


Friendships and Betrayals

by Orlha



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Captain America (Movies), Marvel (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, Betrayal, F/M, Grant Ward Redemption, Hurt/Comfort, Possessive Behavior, Psycho Ward, Romance, Slow Burn, Unhealthy Relationships, attempt at fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-18
Updated: 2015-06-28
Packaged: 2018-03-31 04:12:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 31,284
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3963925
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Orlha/pseuds/Orlha
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They were friends at first. Steve fell for her but never had the courage to ask her out. Modern romance was too complicated for Steve. When Ward hurt Skye, Steve promised to become her shield but he wasn't there when she needed him.</p>
<p>Not for Ward/Skye lovers. Because Ward/Skye don't end up together in the end and its <b>Ward/Skye <span class="u">(unhealthy)</span></b>. Ward redemption is only chp 12 and up.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Steve's POV - The beginning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Archive warnings may change in the future.
> 
> Just to highlight: 
> 
> A) This chapter is in Steve's perspective, if you're looking for Skye/Ward please wait for a chapter in her perspective. There is no/very little fluff in Skye/Ward in this story mostly the unhealthy parts of a bad relationship. Some tags are there because it's planned. I'm just lazy to keep changing it unless its an archive warning.
> 
> B) Flames are amusing to read but not welcomed. If you don't like it, just move along. Why are you reading this if you don't like it? I'm trying not to be jerk sounding, but seriously, it's less effort to just close the tab than to comment incessantly. 
> 
> C)The tags stay. Too bad because it's appropriately tagged whether you like it or not. It really is tagged as (not healthy)skye/ward, please Google what unhealthy relationships are. I most certainly won't be bullied into removing something that's appropriately tagged.

The first time Steve met her, it was at a party to “Celebrate” Coulson’s rebirth as Tony snarkily titled it. She was sitting at a corner fiddling with her laptop. Steve had moved out of the way when Tony begun flying around in the lounge with his Iron Man suit. Experience had taught him that drunk Tony wearing an Iron Man suit always recommended a safe retreat to a corner with his shield on hand should he be needed to step in when things got out of hand, which it almost always did.

She was typing furiously on the laptop, scrolls of text rushing through the monitor made Steve almost giddy.

“What are you doing?” he asked after almost twenty minutes of watching her.

“Hacking Stark’s servers. He’s not going to realize it until he boots his pc tomorrow.” Skye flashed him a cheeky grin. “Just remember to be in his lab when he’s there.”

Steve wasn’t sure how to react to that and though half of him was wishing he didn’t ask, half of him was incredibly intrigued by what she had done. With that cheeky smile and the fact that Coulson had great trust in her, he trusted that whatever she was doing wasn’t malicious.

She snagged a drink from a passing waiter and closed her laptop. “Pity I’m not going to be there to watch it. Promise you’ll watch it. It’ll be hilarious.” She chuckled and wandered to Pepper probably to inform her of the very funny thing she had done.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Steve wasn’t sure what he expected that morning. It was almost noon when Tony finally stumbled into his lab with a hangover. He and Natasha had been hovering in the labs on the pretence on needing to talk to Bruce, Bruce had clearly picked up on something when they stayed there for almost two hours just watching him work.

They turned as the door opened, revealing Tony and Pepper strolling into the labs. Natasha had immediately pointed her camera phone at Tony and begun recording. The computers was switched off, something Tony would have ordinarily found suspicious. However due to his hangover, he had not even noticed it. A loud beeping rang through the private sections of the Avengers Tower followed by the appearance of his Iron Man suit flying towards him.

“Jarvis?” Tony called out worriedly. “Jarvis? Turn off! Shut down! Stop!”

“Sir, the remote shut down function has been deactivated.” The AI replied drily.

The Iron Man suit assembled around him and the speakers begun broadcasting the song YMCA. Clearly Skye had not just hacked into Tony’s servers but also reprogrammed the suit’s programming for Tony clad in the suit minus the helmet began dancing to the song.

“Stop! Turn off! Shut down!”

By now the rest of the Avengers that had been in the building had came to watch and to Tony’s horror the suit began twerking before Tony finally managed to shut it down.

“Who the hell did that!?” Tony shouted angrily, ripping the suit off him.

Natasha snorted loudly and quickly sent the video clip to Skye before Tony could confiscate it. So it seemed that almost everyone had been in cahoots with Skye for distracting Tony and allowing Skye to hack into the servers without him realizing it.

“Skye did this!?” Tony said in disbelief. “Oh man. I so have to get her to join us.”

Steve only smiled. Like that was going to happen. He had seen the amount of respect she had for Coulson. The only way she was only ever going to join them was that Coulson ordered her to and he most certainly wasn’t going to.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

The next time Steve saw her, she was lying in the medical lab dozy from the painkillers Bruce had given her.

“How are you feeling?” he asked, taking the seat that had been vacated by Natasha.

“Like I was shot. Twice.” She mumbled.

Steve raised his eyebrow at her. “Well according to Coulson, you were.”

“They didn’t like me kicking their asses apparently.” Skye mumbled, flinching when she accidentally moved her wounded left leg.

“Heard you almost didn’t make it. Had you not been close to the Avenger’s Tower, Tony wouldn’t have been able to save you in time.”

“Yep. Guns just looove me.” She fiddled with the blanket. “I’m bored!” Skye exclaimed after a moment of silence.

Steve pulled a pack of cards out from his jacket. Clint and Natasha had recently taught him to play Uno and figured that she would prefer some entertainment. Her eyes lit up when she saw the cards. He wasn’t sure how long he had been there playing and chatting with Skye but he found talking to her was easy and time seemed to pass really quickly when he was with her.

It was dinner time when Ward popped his head in to check in on her, still smelling of dust and gunpowder. He was obviously back from a mission and the look on Skye’s face when she saw him told Steve of a probable relationship with her teammate. Like a gentleman, Steve excused himself, leaving Ward to entertain her.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

His phone beeped.

_Did you ever ask her out? – Skye_

No, Steve wanted to reply that. He liked Skye but Skye liked Ward and he wasn’t going to get in the way of that.

_How did the date with Ward go? – Steve_

It was several minutes later before she replied, Steve noticed it because she usually replied almost instantaneously. The speed her fingers flashed over the keypad was amazing. She told him that he would one day get to that speed with enough practice. At least it took him less than five minutes nowadays to send out a text.

_I asked first, yea? – Skye_

He smiled. Something must have happened. He was dense but not that dense as the others believed.

_I tried. She was busy. – Steve_

_Pity. She lost out on a great man. Her loss. Better fishes out there. :) – Skye_

Steve could never get the idea of faces on these texts. What were they supposed to mean? Why did Skye like them so much? His phone beeped again before he could decide how to respond to that.

_Sorry, forgot emoticons made you uncomfortable. It was just supposed to be a comforting smile. – Skye_

She remembered.

Steve knew he didn’t have a chance with her in a ‘relationship’ with Ward but he couldn’t stop himself from liking her. She was funny, beautiful and incredibly intelligent. Who was he kidding? Steve ran his hand through his hair, softly chuckling at his thoughts. Even if Skye was available, he still wouldn’t have asked her out. All the customs to dating in the Modern world was something he could never get used to. What if he offended her without realizing it? What if he made her sad by doing something (or not doing something)? He liked his friendship with Skye far too much to even consider it any further.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Steve didn’t see any of his fellow Avengers or Shield teammates until much later. Between Fury’s death, the revelation of Fury not really being dead and his friend Bucky was very much alive and unwillingly working for Hydra, he didn’t feel very sociable. He had to find Bucky.

Find Bucky.

But how? He clasped his head between his heads, his mind searching for a way.

Skye. 

She would be able to hack into the Hydra records. Steve pulled his phone out and dialed the number she had given him that first time she met him.

“ _This number is no longer in service._ ”

He hurled the phone at the wall angrily. He should have known it. With Hydra infiltrating Shield and Shield essentially disbanded and outlawed, any smart agent and team leader would have gone underground. Steve punched the wall angrily.

Tony? 

He shook his head. Tony had his own problems now, all the problems with the Mandarin. No one could help him now.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

It was another six long months before he saw Skye again. Whatever that happened during the time Hydra came out of the woodworks in Shield had affected her team severely. None of them spoke of what happened but  Ward was missing. When Steve asked about Ward, they only merely gave him a look. He recognized that look and wisely chose not to ask further until they were ready to talk.

He found the small, dark haired girl punching the bag furiously with far more strength that he could possibly ever imagine from anyone with her structure. Steve had never actually seen her fight before. As the hacker and essentially the intelligence officer in her team, Steve didn’t think she would have actually seen much real field work. It was obvious that she had been trained for it and she was good.

Steve didn’t miss it. Skye was angry. Skye was angry where the scientists of her team were depressed. Had Ward died? Death was not uncommon in their line of work. But that wouldn’t make sense right? Being his girlfriend, she would be upset and not angry.

“What do you want?” she asked in an abrasive tone that he had never heard her use before, her hands dropped to her sides. Beads of sweat trickled down her face as she unwrapped her fist bindings.

“Are you alright?” Steve hadn’t come to ask about that, he had come to ask for a favour. When he saw how angry she was, he found his heart clenched uncomfortably and pushed his worries about his friend aside.

“Yea.” She rubbed her knuckles. Despite the bindings, she had hit hard enough to bruise them. “What do you need?”

Steve took her small hand in his, gently rubbing her bruised knuckles. “What makes you think I need something?”

She pulled her hand away, taking a step away from him. Had he done something to make her uncomfortable? He spread his hands out in a placating manner, “Sorry, didn’t mean to offend. I was just- worried.”

Skye looked away at the ground guilty. “Sorry. I’m just…“ Her sentence trailed off. She didn’t need to finish it, they were close enough to guess what each other was thinking. She wasn’t ready to talk about it yet and Steve wasn’t going to push it.

“It’s Bucky.” Steve said abruptly.

She whirled her face up. “So you did needed something,” she said flatly. Her fists were clenched stiffly on her sides. “Let me guess. You need me to hack into Hydra servers and find Bucky’s information.”

The fact she caught on so fast surprised him. Not many people remember Bucky or even knew what had happened when all the nonsense in Shield went down.

She nodded. “I’ll let you know if I have any luck.” She stalked through the gym doors, the gym doors slamming loudly behind her.

He hadn’t meant it. He had wanted to tell her about how he had seen Bucky. Yes, he did have the intention of asking her to retrieve information, but he hadn’t planned to do it now. He was going to wait when she was more open to it, when she was hurting less. He groaned, palming his face. He should run after her and explain. He should, he really should.

Steve stared at the doors, his mind at war with his actions. Maybe he would wait for her to cool down before searching for her to explain. Yes, he would do that.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because Steve x Skye is the cutest and this couple needs more loving.


	2. Skye's POV - The beginning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Takes place from AoS Episode 1 to 22.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As mentioned there is Skye/Ward so yes, here it is. 
> 
> Please note
> 
> a) it is Skye/Ward (unhealthy) this is very important because its not unicorns and rainbows for them.
> 
> b) Steve x Skye is a slow build up filled with misunderstandings. So please be patient.
> 
> c) Flames are not welcomed but it is amusing to read them. 
> 
> d) Skye changes between calling Steve, Steve and Captain America because of the way she perceives him (and all the other avengers).  
>  
> 
> **Trigger warnings for dubious sexual consent in this chapter.**

The first time Skye met Ward, she thought he was an asshole. Sadly, it didn’t change her perspective of him when she was forcibly kidnapped, held as a hostage... why did the weird half bald guy stab his own teammate with a truth serum? And why would anyone call a plane, a Bus? Skye couldn’t wrap her head around it.

She had the strong urge to kick the smug smirk on her warden who was also ironically called Ward. Skye was beginning to think that it was the fate’s way of saying she’s doomed. And how could a guy so suave looking be such a huge ass!? There had to be some rules, universe rules against it or something.

When Skye saw how much they tried to save Mike, she couldn’t help but feel _slightly_ moved. She was never going to tell them that that was for sure.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Skye was certain it was the damn suaveness of his face that made her watch him every time he was in the room. It certainly didn’t help that her face felt hot every time she realized that she had been staring at him.

Oh god. Coulson assigned him to be her S.O. The look in Coulson’s eye told her that he had noticed. Was he trying to pull them closer together or was he just an extended version of her Warden. Aka, everywhere you go, I go. There’s a song on that too.

“Don’t you ever do anything fun?” she couldn’t help but groan, an hour into her first training session. He wasn’t just a suave asshole, he was a suave devil! She mentally slapped herself for unconsciously deciding a nickname for the devil called Ward.

He had that look in her eye when he replied. “This is fun.” Skye wanted to bang her head against the wall. Of course suave devil would consider training fun! “Now get up and give me another hundred jabs.”

“Ten minutes break, please!”

“Up now or it’ll be a hundred jabs and fifty push ups.” His face did not even change expression.

Bloody Suave devil. She was going to survive this and kick the ass out of him when she did.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Skye didn’t think it was going to be the last time that she was going to see Ward. The moment she found out that there was no extraction for Ward and Fitz, she panicked. Sure she didn’t like him, but she would miss seeing his chiselled face and that small smirk every time she did something right. Okay, so she did watch him almost half the time, she swore that even sometimes she had caught him watching her.

Though to be honest, Skye was pretty sure it wasn’t because he liked her. At least she wasn’t sure until that night after she had ‘bullied’ Coulson to pick Ward and Fitz up. Everyone was asleep and she, with her mind filled with the things that Coulson had told her and how close she had almost come to lose Ward _and Fitz,_ was unable to sleep. She was making a mug of milk and honey only to chance upon Ward who had been sitting in the dark with a cup of probably whisky.

“Hey. Can’t sleep?” She asked the so obvious question and flopped down beside him.

He sighed. “Just thinking.”

“Sounds like you’re going to get an aneurysm from all that thinking.” She joked and laughed. He didn’t. “Hey… uhm-“ Skye placed a tentatively hand on his bicep.

Her sentence was cut off by a pair of lips pressing against hers.

Ward was kissing her.

Part of her mind was jumping for joy and part of her mind was trying to analyse on what the hell just happened. To be certain, Skye couldn’t care less. His hand gripping her waist, pulling her closer, his hand cupping her face as they pressed into the kiss and finally broke apart gasping for breath.

He gazed at her with the dark look that Skye had always dismissed as brooding or moody.

“I wanted to do that for a long time,” his voice came out in a breathy whisper. She gripped tightly onto the edge of his shirt as he moved in for another kiss, his lips mapping hers. The second kiss was less intense than the first. Ward sighed and moved back. “I didn’t think that they’d keep the fact that there was no extraction for us. I should have seen the signs of it. I almost got Fitz killed.”

He looked up and into her eyes. His fingers twined into hers. “I almost couldn’t see you again.”

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

The first time Skye saw Captain America up close, it was at Avenger’s Towers where Coulson came to meet them now that he was finally ‘cleared’ to inform the Avengers (and only the Avengers) that he was still alive. Iron Man and most of the members of Avengers with the exception of Hawkeye and Black Widow were furious and relieved at the same time to see Coulson alive.

The tall, blond, very muscular and undeniably handsome man came up with a very sad and disappointed look before enveloping Coulson in a bear hug. Despite his size and apparent physique, Skye could not help but note the very gentle and kind feeling that seemed to diffuse from the man.

And of course, she did fan-girled when she got to shake hands with all the Avengers. Skye didn’t mind that they seemed to barely notice her. Well they barely noticed her until she told them (was badgered by Iron Man actually) why and how she got into Shield. Being Iron Man, Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist (and terribly egoistic) which he never failed to tell every single one of them, he challenged her to a hacking game – which she cleared in one minute while hacking into every other pc in the room.

Natasha was very impressed and then challenged her to another game which Skye excitedly accepted. Her task was to break into Iron Man’s private servers and leave something embarrassing in there for all the Avengers to see. It sounded challenging but the laptop that Pepper had supplied was far too high-powered compared to the one she was using, breaking into Iron Man’s private servers was far far _far_ too easy. Skye wasn’t going to stop at just breaking into Iron Man’s private servers, she was going to reprogram a very minor remote program into his favourite suit.

Hah! She couldn’t help imagine Iron Man, Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist, ego that is too big for his building twerking in his suit. That had to be the most hilarious thing she was going to see for the next five years. She was so engrossed in re-programming the suit that she had not noticed Steve sitting beside her on the couch. Ward had been sitting there but with Iron Man prancing around drunkenly in his Iron Man suit, Ward decided to retreat back to the Bus.

It was only after he spoke that she realized that Captain America was sitting beside her and oh god!  Up close, he was so much more handsome that she ever imagined.

“What are you doing?”

“Hacking Iron Man’s servers. He’s not going to realize it until he boots his pc tomorrow.” Skye couldn’t help but flash her most dazzling smile at him. Who couldn’t when they were sitting beside Captain America!? Skye was extremely glad that she was almost done with the programming. Now that she realized that Captain America was sitting beside her, she could barely pay attention to her programming. “Just remember to be in his lab when he’s there.”

Skye had to tell him of the prank she was doing. It was just too funny to miss. What a pity they were leaving early morning. Coulson had a meeting with the Director in the afternoon. She almost wanted to sulk and beg to stay for a few more days. Judging by the wide-eyed starry looks on Fitzsimmons, Skye was sure that they two would back her up on this.

But she wasn’t going to. Ward had very clearly told her to behave and be matured, so she would. He would flash that oh so yummy half smile at her when she did something right. Maybe Ward was still awake and she would be able to creep into his room. She didn’t know why he wanted to keep their relationship a secret but she never argued with Ward. He was just too stubborn and she was tired of arguing with him over petty things.

Skye snagged a flute of champagne of the passing waiter, her hands sliding the laptop close. “Pity I’m not going to be there to watch it. Promise you’ll watch it. It’ll be hilarious.” Perhaps she would hack into the surveillance cameras tomorrow just to watch it. She chuckled.

Captain America sat there still as a rock, his face had a puzzled look as his blue eyes searched her. Ah, she missed Ward. He would have laughed at that. Skye waited for Captain America to respond to her statement and when he didn’t, she got off in search for Pepper to return the laptop. He wasn’t stupid right? Captain America was supposed to be strong, brave, kind and smart. There was no way he didn’t understand what she tried to imply.

Skye pursed her lips and scribbled her phone number on a napkin before asking a waiter to give it to Captain America.

_202-555-3411_

_Just in case you would like help with updating the list that Natasha has mentioned you carrying around. – Skye_

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

She nearly died – again. Fate definitely has a way of making her almost die. Twice in a row. What were the chances? The mission had been a relatively simple one. Ward and her were supposed to infiltrate a compound, she would hack and lift all the data in it and they would escape. Ward was supposed to be watching her back but when the men came, he was missing.

She knocked three of the men out, buying time for her blasted program to steal all the information however when another three men came, they were extremely displeased with her. Yes, she did manage to run out with part of the data with a bullet wound in her thigh and one on her side. Skye thought it was somewhat a miracle that she had managed to take down the other three men.

As she reached the entrance, her memory of what happened got very hazy there. All she knew was that she woke up with freaking Bruce Banner on her side taking her vitals. According to Natasha, she had gotten a personal air lift from Iron Man himself. He had suited up and gone to personally air lift her in his Iron Man suit (she couldn't believe that Tony Stark had even bothered) to bring her to a medical facility and that had been the only reason why she was still alive. Tony had waved her gratitude off by saying that he didn’t want his new going-to-be-recruited Hacker dead. Skye of course told him that she would only join if Coulson ordered her too. The look on Tony’s face told her that he must have already tried that.

Skye was surprised when Captain America came to visit her and actually thought that it had been due to Bruce’s painkillers that was making her hallucinate The Captain America personally visiting her. She might have been in the building but Skye truly doubted that Captain America would even remember her name. He had not even texted her once. Not once! She gave him her number a month ago!

“How are you feeling?” He asked. Did he remember her name, Skye was tempted to ask but she was going to be matured because Ward always scolded her for being childish.

“Like I was shot. Twice.” Sarcasm wasn’t childish right?

Captain America raised an eyebrow at her words. He wasn’t going to be angry at her for being sarcastic, was he? Ward tended to blow up at her when she was. “Well according to Coulson, you were.”

“They didn’t like me kicking their asses apparently.” She remember the last guy had shot her before she knocked him out. The blooming pain surging through her body as she limped towards the door. Skye remembered wondering if she would see Ward again. Something must have happened to Ward when they were there. Ward wouldn’t have left her like that.

“Heard you almost didn’t make it. Had you not been close to the Avenger’s Tower, Tony wouldn’t have been able to save you in time.”

Skye wondered if Ward had worried over her the way Captain America, Clint and Natasha had. Sometimes he seemed so cold that she wondered if he really loved her. “Yep. Guns just looove me.” She fiddled with the blanket, puzzling over Ward. Her thoughts were going into a downward spiral. Was Ward bored with her? Did he abandon her? She should have seen it coming. It always happened in her foster homes. She would think that they were going to adopt her but they always sent her away. “I’m bored!” Skye exclaimed, trying to force the spiralling thoughts away.

Captain America pulled a deck of Uno cards from his pocket. Uno! Uno was better than those deep dark thoughts that were churning in her mind.  Hell, she didn’t even know Captain America knew how to play Uno.

It was surprisingly easy to talk to him. Easier to talk to Steve than it was to Ward. Sometimes she never could understand Ward’s mind. Oh Ward, was he alright? Skye shook her head and tried to focus on the lively game that she was playing with Steve. Perhaps Steve understood and picked light hearted topics.  How did one not watch ‘Land before time’? She got to make Steve watch it.

She didn’t know how long it was until her stomach rumbled. Then Ward popped his head in, still smelling of dust and gunpowder. So something did happen when they were out there and he had just came back from it and the first thing he had done was to visit her. Skye’s heart fluttered, enjoying the feel of his arms wrapping around her gingerly, the feeling of his calloused fingers entwining with hers, the desperate kiss on her lips.

“Let’s not keep us a secret anymore,” he whispered. It was the best thing she heard all month.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

_**Trigger Warnings for this scene for dubious consent in implied sexual content.** _

_Just skip this to the next bolded text if you want to continue reading_

 

 

 

 

 

Ward was furious with her. She didn’t know why. It had started out as an innocent date. They went out for dinner, caught a movie, made out in the cinema then that was when everything went wrong. Skye did not feel comfortable having sex in the cinema no matter how ‘empty’ it was. They had plenty of sex on the Bus, surely he could wait until they reached the Bus where they could do it in the privacy of their cubicles?

He couldn’t be seriously angry at her for rejecting him, was he? In the dimness of the cinema, there was a strange gleam in Ward’s eyes that she had never noticed before.

“Please,” he said in that throaty whisper of his.

She could never refuse him so Skye let him take her there in the cinema. It didn’t feel right and she didn’t know why.

 

 

 

 

 

**End of trigger warnings**

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

She and Steve had a long standing tradition. They would text each other in the morning just after morning coffee unless they were away on missions. Skye wasn’t sure when it had become a tradition but the next morning when he asked her how her very rare dates with Ward had gone, she found she was unable to answer. She felt almost dirty after she had let Ward take her in the cinema but she didn’t know why. She loved the man and they did it regularly enough. She was upset but she couldn’t pinpoint why so she deflected the question with a question.

_I asked first, yea? – Skye_

Steve’s texts were slowly picking up in speed. At least it didn’t take him ten minutes to type a text message out now. He used to call to reply her text messages until she refused to pick up that he heaved a huge sigh and began texting. Calling someone to reply to a text message to her was just borderline ridiculous. She would force him to text in under a minute by hook or by crook.

_I tried. She was busy. – Steve_

It was an obvious rejection. No girl would be dumb enough to reject Captain A himself! Skye shook her head in amazement of the stupidity of some girls.

_Pity. She lost out on a great man. Her loss. Better fishes out there. :) – Skye_

Ah crap, she forgot that emoticons made Steve uncomfortable for a bizarre reason. She would have to work on that eventually. Eventually. Skye sighed, her fingers flashing over her keypad rapidly.

_Sorry, forgot emoticons made you uncomfortable. It was just supposed to be a comforting smile. – Skye_

Talking to Steve always made her happy.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Ward was Hydra.

She couldn’t believe it. Skye refused to believe it. No she would not believe it. Her breath came out in harsh stuttering gasps, her chest rising and falling as she tried to find air in her lungs. The world spun in her vision, her fingers gripping the door frame tightly.

Eric Koenig.

The only logical explanation was that Ward was Hydra. Who else could have killed him? Skye stared at the coin that she had pocketed after it fell. It was a marker. A marker to indicate if someone had opened the door. If an assassin had entered, they wouldn’t have cared if anyone had found out.

She had to do something. Skye reached for her phone, her mind half hoping for the comforting voice of Steve. He could do something, he was freaking Captain America. When her hands grasped only her empty pockets, Skye vaguely remembered smashing her own phone to prevent anyone from tracing them. She was smart, hell Tony even called her a genius. She could think her way out of this.

“Bus is fuelled up ready to go.”

“We should tell Koenig.” She needed to confirm if Ward was really Hydra. The man who looked at her with adoring eyes, the man who kissed her tenderly. It wasn’t possible.

“I just did. He’s headed outside to open the hangar doors.” He replied with that nonchalant face that she had grown to love.

Oh god. If she hadn’t been looking for it, if she hadn’t seen the body, she wouldn’t have believed it. She thought he wouldn’t have lied to her face. She thought that at the very least she, the woman who had been with him in a relationship for over a year, would have noticed. She didn’t. He was a good liar, a bloody good liar. Had he been lying to her the whole time? Was everything a lie?

That’s not possible right? No one can be that good a liar, right?

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

It was another six long months when it seemed that the dust had settled enough for them to come out of hiding. Six long months. Every time she went to bed, she would remember how he would wrap his arms around her as though to keep her safe from the world.

Ward was Hydra.

No matter how many times Skye told herself that, she couldn’t bring herself to hate the man. Her heart clenched tightly every time she saw the picture of the two of them on her phone’s wallpaper. Eventually she deleted them all except that one picture. They had just completed a mission in Hawaii and for that very rare moment, Coulson had given them a day off. They had snuck off to a remote corner of the island and made love in the sunset. Skye felt sick at the memory of his hands on her skin.

She scrubbed herself red in the showers as if it would erase the memory of them all. She cried in the showers. Crying in disbelief, crying that she loved the man despite all the people she had killed.

Ward was Hydra but she still loved him.

She leaned her head against the foggy glass door, letting the hot water burn the traitorous feelings inside her.

They had came to stay at the Avengers for three days. Three days to refuel, to negotiate in Tony supporting them, to let the hurt of betrayal subside. It was a relief to be sleeping somewhere from the memories. Somewhere where she had no memories of sleeping with him, no memories of them kissing. Yet when she went to bed, sleep would not claim her.

She was a traitor. She jabbed at the punching bag angrily. Her body moving into the motions that Ward had taught her. She loved a traitor, she still did. She swore she would never trust him again, she swore she would never love again. One couldn’t just tell the heart to stop loving, it didn’t work that way. So she bore the traitorous feelings in her, like an ugly scar, an ugly pimple waiting to explode.

She jabbed at the punching bag furiously mostly because she was angry not at him but at herself. She should have seen it coming. Foster homes had taught her one thing. Never trust anyone. She had gone back on that one rule and look what it landed her. She should have seen it coming!

Captain America was standing there watching her. Had he known about Ward? Had he come to gloat? Sometimes she saw the flicker of doubt in Fitz’s eyes. Had he come to press for more information? Skye was so tired of repeating what had happened when Ward had kidnapped her. Why wouldn’t anyone just leave her alone?

“What do you want?” She asked tiredly. It would be faster to get over and done with. She brushed the beads of sweat away, hands sliding to unwrap her fist bindings. How long had she been punching the bag? Her knuckles were an ugly purple. Ugly like her traitorous heart.

“Are you alright?” He asked.

“Yea.” Another dumb question. Skye wished people would stop asking her stupid questions. How _alright_ could someone be after someone they had loved and thought loved them back had turned around and betrayed everything that they had stood for? No it was just her. Just her all along.

Captain America took her hand and rubbed his large hands over her bruised knuckles.

“What makes you think I need something?” He was just worried. Yea, Steve would have been worried for her. He was just a big huge bear of worry and kindness. Skye felt stupid thinking he had an ulterior motive. Not everyone was like Ward.

Her stomach lurched at that thought and she pulled her hand away. She was dirty and she couldn’t taint the goodness of Captain America. Her feet taking an unconscious step back as she thought of that.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to offend. I was just- worried.” Stupid stupid Skye. He thought he had offended her. She had to tell him, tell him of what happened. He wasn’t a mind reader.

“Sorry. I’m just…“ She tried to find the words but found she couldn’t.

“It’s Bucky.”

She whirled her face up. “So you did needed something,” she said flatly. Her fists were clenched stiffly on her sides. So the great Captain America was like everyone else. “Let me guess. You need me to hack into Hydra servers and find Bucky’s information.”

Skye felt stupid for even worrying that she had offended him. He didn’t need her for anything more than her worth. She nodded. “I’ll let you know if I have any luck.”

She stalked towards the gym doors, willing the hot tears to not stream down her face. Not before she made it back to her room.


	3. Steve's POV - Finding Bucky

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Takes place between AoS S1E22 to S2E08.  
> Still before Avengers 2.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Slight non-canon changes to the canon plot though it shouldn't affect in the long run. This chp is not as light-hearted as Steve's first chapter but I tried to keep it light.
> 
> FYI. That coordinates is really randomly generated, so if anyone tried to check it (I know I sometimes do for fun), it really isn't Arizona. But it is a military coordinates thingy. Nato ish.

Steve had fallen into a routine. He would wake early to run, spend another five hours in gym, spend the rest of his time training with which ever avenger that happened to be free and all the time checking his phone wishing for a reply. He had texted her several times apologising and explaining but she had not responded.

_I hope you are okay. Please let me know if you need help – Steve_

_I heard what happened to Fitz and Simmons. Are they okay? – Steve_

Steve missed her sarcastic remarks, her little jabs of how her little seed was finally growing. He heaved a sigh at the lack of messages.

“The fossil attached to his phone?” The red haired assassin slid into the empty seat in front of him. “What has the world come to?”

“Ha ha, that’s hilarious.”

She snatched the phone from him, peering into exactly what he had been looking at. “You’re waiting for a text from Skye?”

“No I’m not.” Natasha gave him a look and he reluctantly agreed, his shoulders drooping as he did. “Yes I am.”

“You won’t get her.” Natasha tossed him back his phone. “They’ve gone under.”

Steve stilled at her words. Anyone who worked with any form of military or with field agents would know what that meant and the idea of Skye being so deep in a mission that she was unable to answer personal texts sat in his stomach like a cold pit. He wished that Skye had told him about it.

“How do you know this?”

“I was their last point of contact.” Steve could feel her eyes stare at him, taking in every tiny movement of his. “You like her?” Her tone was more of an incredulous statement rather than a question. "So that's why you don't _date_."

“We are just friends.” Steve ignored the defensive feeling that seemed to curl in his stomach when he said that. He did like her but she was with Ward and with Ward dead, it didn’t seem right to step in so quickly. He liked his friendship with Skye far too much to consider courting her. Even if the friendship seemed lacking at this point of time.

He would keep telling himself that and it might just come true.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

It was a month later when Steve finally received a text from Skye. Her text was painfully to the point.

_14TBF5318720680 - Skye_

Despite her being so deep under, she still had risked texting him. The knowledge of that gave way to a light flutter in his stomach. He would not answer her text, he knew if there was too much outside communication, it could risk exposure to her. He would not do anything that would risk bringing harm to her. So he took out his notebook and wrote a reminder to thank Skye.

“Going somewhere?” Natasha was waiting in his living room when he came in to pull out the packed bag that he had packed a long time ago.

“Don’t you have anything else to do besides shadow me?” Steve had seen Natasha far more times this month than he had in the whole of last year.

“I was following a traveling mausoleum.” She flashed a smile. He wondered if Skye had put her up to this. From the small glimpses that the duo allowed, he had noticed that they had bonded closer than he had ever seen the assassin done. Not to mention Natasha was fully geared, almost as though she knew.

“So you know where we’re going?” Steve cringed at his usage of ‘we’. She was the Black Widow and he knew from experience that nothing he was going to say or do would deviate her from her choice of path so he unhappily accepted it.

She held up a tablet with a map. “14TBF5318720680.”

“Should I ask how you knew?”

Natasha rolled her eyes. “A small encryption hack that Skye made for me a long time ago. Very simple and undetectable.” She smirked. So she had hacked him that morning when she snatched his phone. Steve mentally groaned himself for not being more perceptive, the modern world was going to be the death of him.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

“Capsicle why didn’t you invite me! It’s like throwing a whole party without me!”

Steve stifled a loud sigh. They had found Bucky at the coordinates and taking him down had involved a fairly large spread destruction which was mostly due to Doctor Banner and Barton _chancing_ upon them. He would have considered meeting Barton as a coincidence had they not met Doctor Banner six miles from their destination. There was no way Doctor Banner could have been in Arizona. The last time he spoke to Doctor Banner, he was in Boston giving a lecture on a subject that he couldn’t even pronounce.

“How come Spy Barbie and Legolas, no wait. I shouldn’t even want to ask how they know. How come Shrek got the invitation and I didn’t!? This is unacceptable. I’m flying over there right now and you better be there when I arrive.”

He hung up before Tony continue.

“Stark’s coming.” He motioned the rest.

“With a clean-up crew I hope.” Bruce raised an eyebrow him then at the decimated town.

“I kind of cut him off while he was going on a rant.”

“Won’t be the first.” Steve couldn’t help but echo with Natasha’s sentiment.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

The next time Steve saw Coulson and Skye, he could barely recognize them. Not because they changed physically but because the dynamics of the team had completely changed. Coulson and Skye were barely talking to each other which he found it strange. From her past text messages, Skye had always looked up to Coulson as a father figure and spoke excessively of him.

“Skye.” Steve saw her in the gym again that night. “I don’t know how to express my gratitude in helping me recover Bucky.”

She stopped punching, her arms falling beside her, back still facing him. The silhouette seemed so small against the large punching bag.

“Is everything alright?” He spun her around. Her normally expressive face was empty with only the traces of exhaustion lining her face. He lifted her face, forcing her downcast eyes to meet his. “Talk to me Skye. We’re _besties_ aren’t we?” He inwardly winced at the use but she had said it more than a few times and it must mean something to her.

Something flickered in her eyes and she smacked his hand away before moving from him. “Look, that night. I was trying to tell you I met Bucky. I didn’t…“ He trailed off.

“I know. I saw your texts.”

“Is it something I did? Why are you replying me anymore?”

She shook her head. There was a crushed feeling on her face, one that made him want to hold her tight and tell her everything would be okay. That’s what friends do for each other in this time and age right? He decided to ignore the fact that she was female and he was male and in the 1940s, it would extremely inappropriate to do so. He pushed that inclination aside. Something was making Skye sad and he wanted to fix it.

“I’m a 0-8-4.”

Steve wasn’t sure how to react to that. “Isn’t an 0-8-4 an-“

“I’m an alien damnit!” She flung her hands up in the air angrily. “They look at me like I’m some weird freaky thing. Expecting me to explode or something.”

“They?”

“Coulson and May. They watch me. My every move like I’m a traitor or a criminal. I feel their eyes boring holes into me especially now with the thing about my _father and he_ -“

Steve pulled her into a hug, feeling his shirt dampen from her tears. “Breathe with me.” He took a deep breath and felt her mimic him taking long slow breaths. The smell of her mildly scented shampoo brought a rush of emotions that he wasn’t sure how to process. “You’ll be alright.”

He ran his hands through her hair, struggling with the urge of wanting to plant a kiss on her hair.

“Everything will be okay.”

He would make sure that everything would be okay.

 

 


	4. Skye's POV - Going under

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Takes place between AoS S1E22 to S2E08.  
> Still before Avengers 2.
> 
> There shouldn't be any trigger warnings required for this chp. It is a bit angsty though. Let me know if you think there should be one.

Skye didn’t think she would see Ward again. His unshaven face looking gaunt. The more she stared at him, the more she felt bits of the wall in her crumble. She had be angry at him. Skye tried to rouse fury in her. He tricked her, he lied to her, Ward is Hydra, but all she felt was pity, sympathy and love for him.

Sometimes she would remember that he had a bad childhood that moulded him this way. He was a broken man because of a crazy man. Skye cast a glance at Fitz who sat in the lab muttering to himself.

Ward did it to him. The brilliant Fitz was broken because of Ward. Skye tempered the momentarily anger as she headed down to Vault D.

“Skye.”

She didn’t not reply, merely sitting in front of him, questioning him in the monotonous tone. She loved the damn suave devil but she wasn’t going to let anyone hurt her family.

Ward hurt Fitz.

“I promised you I wouldn’t lie to you anymore.”

Skye wanted to believe him yet when it felt like everything about their relationship was based on lies. She wondered if his _bad childhood_ was even real. She stared back at him, disconcerted by the honesty she saw in his eyes.

“You hurt Fitz. I’ll **never** trust you again.” She pulled the words out of her mouth, forcing herself to remind that he was a traitor. Her heart still trembled for him. She didn’t trust herself to not free him, to send him away for his safety. She couldn’t, she wouldn’t.

Ward hurt Fitz.

She repeated it like a mantra, holding it close to her heart to stop her traitorous heart from beating for that suave devil.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

_I heard what happened to Fitz and Simmons. Are they okay? – Steve_

Skye hurled her phone angrily at the wall. She really wanted to trust him. This was Captain America, he wouldn’t use her. Hell, he practically texted her every day asking if she was alright, trying to explain about that night in the gym. Apparently she had misunderstood. She scoffed at it. She wouldn’t trust anyone. Everything was momentarily. When they got it and when they had no more use for her, they would dump her. That’s what they always did back in the foster homes.

She breathed deeply and pulled her laptop over. Might as well start with the blasted Bucky’s coordinates so she didn’t need to make Captain America suffer from her piss-poor company.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

They were in-between missions. It was during these times where she hated being at the Playground the most. The reminder of Ward, the reminder of poor Fitz, the absence of Simmons. Skye plunged into the internet, setting up the most intricate encryptions, hacking into Hydra to procure any information about Bucky, the Winter Soldier, the Asset. The more she found out about him, the more sorry she felt for him.

Skye couldn’t help but wonder if Bucky would turn out like Ward.  Was giving information about Bucky to Captain America even a good idea? All the pain and suffering he had undergone, she doubted anything remotely Bucky would have been left behind. Ward had suffered under Garrett’s brainwashing and he wasn’t any better.

Some days, Skye saw only a ghost of the man she loved under the insane façade he seemed to sport, other days it almost seemed like he was normal, like he was guilty for all the things he had done. It was always on those days that Skye would volunteer to pick up groceries. Loitering in the Playground would only make her want to scrutinize him through the camera and it only made her heart ache.

They were drinking a round. They rarely drank but they had completed a mission successfully and that always called for a round of celebration. Under the drunk haze, Skye could not help but ask the other guys.

“What would you want your friends to do if you got brainwashed and wasn’t yourself anymore and was made to do terrible things?”

“Shoot me please.” Hunter laughed immediately. That was typically Hunter, Skye was not at all surprised at his answer.

Mack on the other considered his answer carefully and she found herself surprised by both Mack and Trip’s answer. “If there was a way of bringing me back from the brainwashing, I’d like to be brought back. If I did terrible things, I’d like to be able to redeem myself.”

That made Skye’s mind up for her.

_14TBF5318720680 - Skye_

Who knows? Perhaps Captain America would be able to bring his Bucky back to allow Bucky for redemption. Somewhere she hoped it would stay the same for Ward.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

“Skye. I didn’t think I’d be seeing you so soon”

“Ward.”

She had to know. No one was awake, she made sure of that. Even looped the camera feed for Vault D so that no one would realize it.

“Why did you do it?”

He raised an eyebrow with a small smirk. The blasted half-smile that she missed so much. “Now you’re asking the right questions.” He replied in a low almost seductive tone.

She felt the small curl of possibly excitement at his voice. Approval. She sought approval from him. The realization of that damped any other emotions that was growing in her chest. Had he been training her? That wasn’t possible. Why would he? He loved her. She loved him.

“I’ll never lie to you ever again, Skye.”

“Then tell me. Are you training me?”

She had to know. A flash of shock ran through his face before being replaced with that blank mask.

“Are you doubting me? I love you Skye. I always have,” He growled.

She turned from him and ran back to her room. Was it true? Was he really _training_ her? Skye shook her head vehemently.

No!

He loved her! And she loved him.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

The world seemed to spin around her as Coulson spoke those words to her. She was a 0-8-4. She was an alien.

She was an alien.

She sank into her bed. It was no wonder she always caught the looks where May and Coulson were giving her. No wonder May became her S.O. She wasn’t becoming her S.O because May thought that she had potential, she was her S.O because she wanted to keep an eye on her. Her warden.

She cupped her head, the sound of her heart beating roaring in the silence, deafening her.

They kept her around because she didn’t react to the formula. They kept her around to study her.

She felt sick.

“Skye are you alright?” Simmons hovered in front of her. Skye had paused in mid spoon upon noticing May discreetly doing her Tai Chi at a corner. “Skye?”

She pulled her hand away from Simmon’s gently grip. Was she another one onto this? Had they all known? Skye deflected a response and took her cereal to her room.

“Skye.” Coulson appeared at the door. “You know it doesn’t change anything we feel about you right?”

She nodded. It didn’t change anything they felt about her, because they never did.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Captain America found her in the gym again when they made the road trip up to the Avenger’s Towers although it was less of Avengers and more of Stark’s Towers.

“Skye.” She didn’t know how to react. Captain America. He had Bucky now so why was he even coming to her? “I don’t know how to express my gratitude in helping me recover Bucky.”

Gratitude? She supposed she should have expected that. Did he want something else again?

“Is everything alright?” Captain America spun her around. Was he here to surveillance her as well? She dropped her face into the blank face she had been sporting all week as he lifted her face, forcing her downcast eyes to meet his. “Talk to me Skye. We’re _besties_ aren’t we?”

Besties? Captain America just used the word Besties! Oh god. She used to use it between them but he never liked it. She smouldered the snort and smacked his hand away before moving from him. He was just here for something else again. Skye refused to get her hopes up.

“Look, that night. I was trying to tell you I met Bucky. I didn’t…“ He trailed off.

“I know. I saw your texts.”

“Is it something I did? Why are you replying me anymore?”

_Because she was an alien, her dad was a monster and probably her too. Because Garrett and Coulson were going crazy from the same drug injected into her blood stream. Because the man she loved was a traitor who tried to kill Fitz and Simmons._

She shook her head as the thoughts popped into her mind.

_She was a monster in training. Born from a monster, trained by a psycho._

“I’m a 0-8-4.”

Confusion flooded his face. He didn’t know. He wouldn’t have treated her like a human being if he knew. He wasn’t here because he was keeping an eye on her.

“Isn’t an 0-8-4 an-“ he started.

“I’m an alien damnit!” She flung her hands up in the air angrily. “They look at me like I’m some weird freaky thing. Expecting me to explode or something.”

“They?”

“Coulson and May. They watch me. My every move like I’m a traitor or a criminal. I feel their eyes boring holes into me especially now with the thing about my _father and he_ -“

_She was a monster in training._

Skye felt her lungs struggle to breathe, the sound of her breath rasping in the gym. “Breathe with me.” She heard him say, pulling her against his chest. “Breathe with me, Skye.” He took a deep breath and she mimicked him. He smelt like aftershave and something uniquely him. His arms around her and his scent, if safety had a smell, it would smell like him.

“You’ll be alright.” She felt his chest vibrate as he whispered, running his hands through her hair. She fisted his shirt, taking slow deep breaths.

“Everything will be okay.”

Somehow when he said it, it seemed that way. Could she really trust him? She lay her head against his chest, feeling a wave of exhaustion overtake her.


	5. Steve's POV - Dance about the truth, San Juan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Takes place between AoS S2E09 to S2E13.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so story from now on is verging away from the canon plot. Mostly because I decided I want Skye to stay with Avengers (she was part of the Avengers in the comics after all). There will be major adjustments, but I do want to keep this story very light and sarcastic. So I do not think I'll talk about other darker issues (or attempt to skirt around it), really doing my best to not make this a serious, angst fic.

It was two weeks after they left when Steve received a phone call from Skye or rather a phone that was from Skye’s phone.

“Captain America… this is Simmons-“ a female voice stammered. “They took Skye.”

His stomach churned viciously as he asked the female, “Who did?”

“W-Ward.”

“Ward?” The name he spoke caught the attention of Natasha who lounged nearby eating cereal. “I thought he died.”

“No Ward was Hydra.”

Oh. That explained the anger and sadness. He clenched his fist tightly over the glass, sending cracks through it. Skye loved Ward very dearly, she spoke of him all the time. He betrayed her. Steve swore silently that if she was hurt, Ward would pay dearly.

“What do you need me to do?” he asked, in a cold voice, jaw working underthe weight of many choice words he would rather say.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

There had only been the three of them in the Towers that day: him, Natasha and Bruce. In enclosed areas, Banner would have been more detrimental than beneficial so he wisely chose not to come. Stark was busy with whatever Stark Industries had in Australia, Thor was missing in action as always and Clint was in an undercover mission so was unable to be contacted.

So it was left to Steve and Natasha to fly out in the _borrowed_ Quinjet. He gripped his shield tightly trying to push away the numbing cold that ran through him as he thought about Skye. He thought Ward was good for her, he had seen how protective he had been over her, entrusted Skye’s protection to him even if it hadn’t been implicitly spoken.

He couldn’t understand why she hadn’t told him. Unconsciously rubbing his nose bridge, Steve recalled that night at the gym. She was upset and terrified and according to Coulson when he confronted him she had been practically running on fumes, that was the reason why they had been watching her. Between Ward, the problem with Hydra and the new revelation of her origins, Skye had been barely sleeping or eating. Coulson had not told him that when he meant _Ward_ what he really meant was Ward’s betrayal.

Steve fisted the rim of his shield angrily. Another lie, another dance about the truth.

“Whoa there big guy.” Natasha’s placating voice broke through his thoughts. “You’re going to break your shield with that grip of yours. Her tone was teasing and light but he knew that it was more of a warning.

“I think Vibranium is a little stronger than my fist.”

“I don’t know about that.” She laughed before falling into her game face and adjusted the receivers. “We’re approaching the building.”

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

“SKYE!” He pounded onto the rock, slamming the wall repeatedly with his shields. “SKYE! Answer me!” The shield echoed against the rock, bits of the rock fell crumbled.

The wall cracked and disintegrated into tiny pieces

“Captain?” She stared at him. “Trip- He- tried to help me. I killed Trip-“ The second wave of earthquakes begun again.

“We can talk later, we need to go.” He pulled her into his arms, raising his shield above them as the ceiling came crashing down.  They couldn’t move, too many large parts falling. They couldn’t move without risking her safety, he knew with his super-soldier body that he would be already, but she might not be. She flung her head into the crevice of his neck. Steve could feel her warm breath and light dampness as she struggled to control her hysteria. Then everything went still, even her.

“Skye? Skye!” He slung her over his arms, running towards what had been the tunnel. They were waiting for them.

“Oh god! What happened?” Simmons pushed him aside and checked her vitals. “She’s okay.”

There was an almost audible sigh of relief.  “We need to put her in quarantine. She and Mack will have to be put in quarantine. Who knows what alien parasites they might have picked up.”

Steve didn’t like the sound of that, but it was protocol.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Steve had wanted to stay until she was out of quarantine but they had some hydra business down in Hong Kong so they went to back up Stark. It was two months later before he saw Coulson and Skye.

“Ah. The Zombie! How does it feel being coming back to life?” Stark quipped.

“Very funny, Stark. We need a favour.”

She looked exhausted. “She needs help.” Coulson motioned to Skye then Bruce.

“You think Bruce can help?”

Coulson nodded at Skye and she peeled the gloves off her hands. The splotches of purple practically covered her whole arms. “We don’t have the experience to deal with this kind of stuff.”

Steve caught the knowing glance between the two assassins. “We’ll take her in.” Natasha voiced, stepping forward to wrap her arm around Skye. “You’ll love this place. Now that you’re not staying at a guest apartment-“ Her chattering faded off as the lift door closed behind them with Barton carrying her bags.

“Captain. A word please.” Coulson said as them dispersed. Bruce headfirst in the files that Coulson had provided him. “Skye- She was becoming withdrawn. I’ve seen the way you look at her. You care for her. She needs-”

“I won’t let anyone hurt her.” 

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Natasha slipped into the empty seat beside him. “She’s very valuable to Coulson. Normal protocols state that if the gifted is unable to control their powers, they must neutralize them.”

“Neutralize?” Steve stared at Natasha horrified. How many more lies and nasty protocols was he going to learn. He thought that Shield was good. He thought Shield was better.

“It is better, you know.” Barton said, sliding behind Natasha and wrapping her in his arms. “I meant Shield.” Steve looked at him puzzled and wondered if he had been thinking aloud.

“It’s not that difficult to guess what you’re thinking. You’ve a very… expressive face.” Natasha offered.

“Will she be alright?”

“Well, she will be soon. Stark’s ecstatic over Coulson ordering her to join us.”

The trio groaned loudly. Steve recalled the last time Coulson had loaned Skye to them. Stark had been practically going on on a techno babble with Skye for the whole breakfast. They (under Stark’s insistence despites Skye’s protests that she was a hacker and not a programmer) then upgraded Jarvis and accidentally scrambled it because apparently their coding style was different from each other. In the end Steve had to memorize his new floor number which was thirteen that would bring him to actual floor seventy.

 


	6. Skye's POV - Bad choices

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Takes place between AoS S2E09 to S2E13.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Trigger warnings for angst and non-consensual sexual activities (Just kissing though and some attempted...)  
> **  
>  The Angst is strong in this one.
> 
> No really. It is. I placed a trigger warning there because sometimes I feel very upset after reading a sad chapter. But it has a light ending!! So I tried to balance it off. Hoped it worked.
> 
> Going to make Steve's next one lighter (I hope!)

Ward came to fetch Raina from the Bus and then insisted she come as well. Her or everyone on the Bus. She had seen the look in his eyes. She knew what he was capable of. May didn’t understand, she had never experienced being under his ‘thrall’. She had to obey, there was no other choice.

She followed him but he had not kept his word. He should have. She was screaming at him. Oh. Skye rubbed her palm on her throbbing left cheek. He had cuffed her there and then…

Someone had injected her with something, probably a sedative. She muttered more choice words and got up from the too hard bed only to realize it wasn’t a bed, it was a leather bench and sitting opposite her was Ward. He had that smug smile on his face and before she could squash the thought, the thought of how much she missed him flashed through her mind.

All the shit he had put her through and she still loved him. Skye wondered if there was something wrong with her. Hadn’t it been the same for Miles? He was always lying to her and yet she still trusted him and believed in him. Bloody attracted to bad guys.

“Hello Skye.”

“Fuck you Ward.”

“Testy. Just the way I love you.” He stroke the side of her face down to her chin with that small smile. Her stomach fluttered. She hated her body for responding to his touches. He leaned forward, claiming her lips with his and stuck his tongue deep, his hands hovering around her waist. She wasn’t going to let him do shit to her this time.

Skye bit down hard, tasting the blood as he withdrew. He wiped the blood from his mouth and she spit his blood into his face. Score! Her perfect aim had landed that wad of blood into his eye.

“Piss off Ward.” And with those words, she stuck him in the groin – hard. After being away from him for so long, she had realized that a relationship shouldn’t make her feel so shitty about herself. No. She wasn’t let herself be tied to a shitty damn relationship if they made her feel like that. Never again.

He got off from his prone position, his left hand still clutching his groin.

“You are mine! No one will love you more than me!” He roared, before backhanding her. He pushed her down, thinking she would submit the way she always did, but she had enough of his shit and she was trained by May and Natasha.

She flipped him, grasping his wrist and pulling it to his back. In a quick move, she twisted his legs, causing his arm to hang painfully on that one shoulder.

“Listen here Ward. You’re going to get out of this room and I won’t kill you here.”

“You think you can kill me? I know all of May’s moves.” There was a sly smile in his words. A smile that indicated that he still thought that he could overpower her.

“You might know all of May’s moves, but the Black Widow taught me more. I know you’ve never beat her before.” There was some truth to it. Natasha had trained with her though she sure as hell wasn’t going to let him know that it had only been a little.

His body stiffened at her words. Skye knew he would recall on how she had spoken to him constantly about Natasha. He would put two and two together and he would assume what she wanted him to

“Fine.” He got up as she released him to floor with a thud and eyed him suspiciously. “This isn’t over.” He said before he left.

She knew it wasn’t but she would rather die than let herself fall under his thrall again and as much as it hurt her to admit it, somewhere in her, there was a small vain hope that he did really love her in that ‘normal’ way and not the psychotic way he seemed to project.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

The mansion was huge, as expected. There had to be a gazillion guards as well, as expected. Her eyes and mind instantly locking on possible escape routes, but it was far too impossible to escape here, even if she had some kind of hostage. By hostage, she meant that she would require a real hostage, one that Hydra didn’t consider as dispensable. Despite his swagger, Skye knew that Hydra probably considered Ward as dispensable. Hell, they considered always everyone else as dispensable. She wondered vaguely why anyone would rather work for Hydra. Was there some kind of masochistic society going around? People can’t truly be completely evil. People like that just didn’t exist in real life. Everyone had their own agenda and their own motives, but working for Hydra who could care shit about your own well-being? That has to be the worst kind of ‘benefit’.

“Maybe you don’t remember but we played this game before of ‘let’s kidnap Skye’ before and it didn’t end well for you,” she snarked.

“That’s not my concern,” he smiled gently and reached down to unclip her wire ties. Far too many guards in and out to get out safely. Her mind calculated the probability to an almost 5% success rate. She would have to just stick it out.

“Really? Then what is?”

“Keeping my promise.” He replied, opening the door.

Oh bloody hell.

That man- can’t really be her ‘dad’ right? Her real dad was probably be Coulson.  Skye stared at him, the unassuming man in a suit that seemed far too large for him. The way he spoke sounded so… so… deluded. Did he really think she was going to jump into his arms, crying about how she wanted to see him for so long after what she had seen him do to those poor people?

It made her feel sick at the way he seemed to go on and on.

He wasn’t her father. If she had to have a father, it would be Coulson. Coulson was her father as close as it got to. Even if he watched her constantly.

At least she was safe there and he was a good man.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Skye saw him take down their guard. He was as good as she remembered him to be, maybe even better. There was something off about Ward. She couldn’t put her finger on it. Ward… Ward was never this psychotic. He was always sane, but now that she had met the so very deluded man who was her biological father and thought that meant everything, Skye realized that it was almost exactly similar to Ward.

He stared down at her with an odd gleam in his eyes. The same odd gleam she had glimpsed in Cal.

“Are you alright?” she asked him before she could stop herself.

“Better. Could be better. I mean I’m fine.” He cut her ties. “Stay here, I’ll check the door.”

Skye hesitated. Whatever Cal did to him, she was sorry for him but she wasn’t going to stay there and try to help him. The times he had coerced into doing something she didn’t want, the times he had manipulated her. She felt her body go cold at those memories. She picked the gun up and shot him four times into the vest. He would be okay. There was the vest. Her aim was good, it would stun him but he wouldn’t die.

He wouldn’t die.He She reiterated it to herself as though to comfort herself.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Raina was crazy. Raina had the same creepy gleam in her eye like Ward and Cal. What the hell was going on?

“Make it stop!” Skye saw the metal thing fly and land onto the pedestal. Part of her screamed for her to grab Raina and leave, part of her demanded to know what would happen. Decisions, decisions, decisions. She couldn’t leave the diviner here, if something from here happened when the stone walls closed then no one would be able to stop it.

She pushed her worries away. It seemed like ages as she made her decision but in truth it was less than five seconds. Her heart plummet when Trip dashed in. Why did Trip come in? The foolish man.

“Trip!” The stone was covering her. Cold, hard.

Trip didn’t make it. Why did she choose to stay? It was her fault Trip died. All her fault! She killed Trip! The wall cracked, disintegrating into tiny pieces as the ground shook violently. The ceiling was going to collapse on them but she didn’t care. She killed Trip.

On the other side was Steve staring at her in a panicked look. What was he doing? “Captain?” She stared at him. “Trip- He- tried to help me. I killed Trip-“ The second wave of earthquakes begun again.

Her heart hurt. It was all her fault. “We can talk later, we need to go.” He pulled her into his arms, raising his shield above them as the ceiling came crashing down.  Was she going to kill Captain America as well? She really had death following her. She was a danger to everyone. She held onto Steve tightly. For the good of all those she loved, she would have to leave them.

She wouldn’t let death fall on them.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Skye had guessed it. She had known it. The diviner. It changed her. She had powers too and probably those tremors were hers. She didn’t want to admit it but it was the only plausible explanation that had all the pieces fitting in.

When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbably, must be the truth.

She clasped her head between her hands. Simmons would know soon. Would she shoot her as well? Simmons wouldn’t right? Truth to be told, Skye truly didn’t know. The current Simmons wasn’t the one she had grown to know over her years at this Shield.

Fitz paced up and down outside her room. He knew. Was he going to tell them as well? Was he going to hunt her down as well? Was he going to shoot her? Put her down?

The room started to shake.

No. She tried to calm herself, stop the tremors. He was going to tell them. She killed Trip. She killed them. She would kill them.

No Fitz. She watched him run away, reject her.

She was inhuman. She wasn’t human anymore.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

The shaking had gotten worse, even her arms were taking a beating. Skye had seen the fear in all of their eyes as they looked at her. Her plan to runaway had prematurely ended when they locked her in the cage. She couldn’t even run away from them to keep them safe.

 “I won’t let them get to you.” Fitz cupped her face with hands. “You hear me? I won’t let them put you down.” She always considered herself as a tough girl however when Fitz came into the cage despite her warnings and told her that, even she couldn’t resist crying.

“I told Coulson that our best bet would be Dr Banner. He could help you. He agreed reluctantly.”

She didn’t like it but if anyone had anger problem issues, her best bet would be on Dr Banner as well.

It was logical.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

“I’ll see you again,” Fitz squeezed her hand. He refused to stay at the Playground as Coulson flew her over to the Avenger’s tower. “I expect an email every day.”

She smiled at him. In the end the person she had least expected to stand by her despite her ‘status change’ was Fitz.

“Thank you Fitz.” She hugged him tightly, feeling the warmth in her heart push the creeping darkness away for awhile.

“That’s what friends do right?”

The Avengers were on the balcony waiting for them when they landed. Were they going to reject her as well like they did in the Playground? Skye forced herself to calm down before the Tremors even started. She didn’t need to give Stark the jitters even before knowing what was going on.

“Ah. The Zombie! How does it feel being coming back to life?” Stark quipped. Same old Tony. She felt a small smile twitch on her lips.

“Very funny, Stark. We need a favour.”

“She needs help.” Coulson motioned to her then Bruce.

“You think Bruce can help?”

Coulson nodded at her and she peeled the gloves off her hands. The splotches of purple practically covered her whole arms. It was gross looking and looked worse than it felt. Okay, multiple hairline fractures were not as good as it sounded. It could be a lot worse. She could be dead now. Skye wondered if that was preferable. She would stay here for awhile and then run away the moment she could. She wasn’t going to let death kill any of the Avengers. She would die before letting that happen.

“We don’t have the experience to deal with this kind of stuff.”

 “We’ll take her in.” Natasha voiced, stepping forward to wrap her arm around her. That was weird even for Natasha. . “You’ll love this place. Now that you’re not staying at a guest apartment. The permanent apartments comes with two bedrooms and one living room. There’s no kitchen because we all eat at the communal kitchen. It’s fantastic.” She went on and on, not even letting Skye get a word in.

She showed her to a huge apartment. Natasha was not kidding. It was far bigger than the guest apartments she shared with Simmons and May the last few times. Bigger was an understatement. It was HUGE. She could put her Playground’s bedroom in this or even the whole science department in here!

Clint dropped her bags by the short stairs. “Now Clint and I are just down the hallway. Steve’s just across the hallway. If you need anything, just holler.”

“Aren’t you afraid of me?”

Natasha arched an eyebrow at her. “Two master assassins, a man who has anger management issues and turns into a green giant hulk, an egoistic drunk who talks endless and sometimes shoots repulsor shots at things because it pissed him off – no idea how a glass door pissed him off and you want to ask if we are afraid of you?

“What is it you do anyway?” Clint asked.

“I make things shake.”

He shrugged and clapped her on the back. “Girl. Welcome to the weirdo team.”


	7. Steve's POV - She needs Yoga

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Before AoU. Still in limbo for AoS. 
> 
> Skye's got a new nickname.

It wasn’t the screaming that woke Steve up. It was the whimpering that repeated over and over again ‘please just kill me’ that he picked up with his super hearing and jolted him awake. The ground was trembling slightly beneath his feet.

He flung open the door, staggering as the vibrations here were far stronger. Not just the ground was trembling, even the cups on the counter were sliding down. He found her shaking in her bed, the sheets wrapped around her. Her small hand clutching her pillow that was wet from her tears.

“Please- just kill me-“ she begged in a small voice that broke his heart. Steve could feel a surge of something warm in his chest demanding him to do something.

“Skye. Wake up.” He shook her, his body tensed in anticipation of dodging her reactions. Once not too long ago, he had attempted to wake Natasha from her night terrors and had been unintentionally stabbed. She was too far into her dreams. He sat by her, peering down at her in case she had a firearm hidden under the pillow, shaking her harder.

“Skye.” She shot up gasping, slamming her head into his before groaning as she clutched her head. He rubbed her head gently, trying to ease the pain. His head was very hard. It would hurt her a lot more than it would hurt him. “Are you okay?” he asked quietly.

By now, the vibrations had stopped but her body was still shaking.

“Sorry. Nightmare. Hope I didn’t shake the whole building.” Skye touched her face where the pain had been and laughed a single laugh. It was a hard laugh, devoid of any emotions. The persistent feeling in the chest urging him to wrap his arms around her and tell her that she would be okay.

He took her cold clammy hand in his left and trailed his thumb down her cheek. She had been touching it as though to reassure herself of something. He had seen some of the agents attempt to deal with their own nightmares.

“You’ll be okay. I won’t let anything hurt you,” he whispered and she smiled weakly at him.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

“So I’ve heard we got a new resident.” Bucky said, sliding into the empty seat beside him.

“Yes. She’s Coulson’s star hacker and has the ability to cause tremors.” Bruce replied, barely looking up from his cereal and the case file that he had been reading since Coulson gave him. “Tony has a theory that it might not be the actual ground she’s shaking but the vibrations of atoms instead.”

One of the things that greatly surprised Steve was how well Bucky got along with Banner ever since they managed to break his programming. Not that he didn’t get along with Banner, it was just hard to keep up when he seemed to sprout heavy science theories in order to get him speaking into a lengthy conversation. Bucky seemed to understand or manage to keep up whenever Banner got into a mini-rant about something like this though he suspected the reasoning why was probably due to his time in Hydra and being… used as a lab-rat.

Steve always made a point to skirt or touch very lightly on such topics unless Bucky brought it up himself. Sometimes he would catch Bucky grimace painfully when he remembered things.

“Ow! Whatcha do that for? It’s the truth!” Barton yelled angrily, mock glaring at Natasha before turning back to Skye. Skye was late today though he could hardly fault her. Considering her night terrors and her rimmed eyes, she had not been able to sleep more after he had left.

“Girl. Next time Tash and I are getting things going, you mind shaking things up a bit?”

This snapped Bucky and Banner’s deep conversation as they blinked owlish at the trio. Natasha grabbed Clint by the elbow and dragged him away. “It’s a promise!!!” He hollered, pointing at Skye who stood there by the fridge, face red as a tomato.

Bucky snickered. “You know if her actual ability is to vibrate atoms, a fitting codename would be _‘The Vibrator’_.” They chuckled at the nickname.

“You can help her right, Banner?” Steve asked.

“Well going by the case files on her abilities, there really isn’t a lot to go by. Tony made this scanner to calculate her ability-“ he paused, staring at Skye who was now banging her head against the fridge. “Why is she-“

“Are you abusing _my_ fridge? No one abuses _my_ fridge. Step away from _my_ fridge!” Tony stared at her with an incredulous look. “Why are you abusing my fridge any way. Oh that’s right. Clint just made you a walking vibrator.”

“Speaking of the devil-“ Banner muttered.

“You wanted a big tremor?” She asked incredulously.

“Why does Stark want a big tremor?”

“I think he wanted to test the theory of her vibrating the whole entire tower. He placed a scanner at the top and the bottom to calculate it but Jarvis barely registered any on the top and none from the bottom.”

Steve watched Tony dragged her into the lift and she casted a furtive glance around the kitchen area. He waved a goodbye and mouthed a good luck. She would have fun, he smiled.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

He was in the middle of training with Natasha and Bucky when the whole gym began shaking fiercely. Yesterday’s tremors was nothing compared to this. They staggered, falling sprawled onto the ground. Only Natasha was still standing.

“Is that Skye?” was all she said before she was sent flying into the wall.

They wisely clutched the floor, dodging as the weights came loose. The shaking settled a good ten minutes later.

“Sorry people. Vibrator here decided to have a temper tantrum. All taken care of now.” Tony dodged a flying book. “HEY! People here are trying to talk!”

“Don’t call me Vibrator!” Skye chucked another book at him.

“Woman, calm down.” Steve could see the chairs in the background vibrating again. “I apologize. I was trying to do a test-“ She punched him on his face and the video intercom disappeared.

They winced. “She’s got a mean right hook too.” Natasha commented.  “I think we should go up there and save him before he sticks his foot in his mouth again.”

“Definitely need to teach her yoga.”


	8. Skye's POV - Don't call me Vibrator

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Before AoU. Still in limbo for AoS.
> 
> Skye's got a new nickname and Tony shoots Skye.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter update will be on 18 June due to work commitments.
> 
> Let me know if there's any scenes/situations that you'd like to see and I'll see if I can fit it in.
> 
> Sorry for only allowing registered users for commenting. There are some weird/angry/psycho people who like to spam on the comments demanding me to remove this from skye/ward. Lol.

Ward was staring at her, holding her arms above her head. He wasn’t kissing her. She felt the cold blade trailing down her face, the sadistic twitch in his face as he applied gradual pressure to the blade. Burning pain, hot rush to her face all the way down her neck. Skye tried to move, tried to scream for someone but there was nothing she could do.

“Please- just kill me-“ she begged. The salt from her tears mingled with her wounds spiked the pain. It hurt so much.

“Skye.” A masculine voice called her. A comforting warm with the too familiar smell of something – of safety. She woke gasping, banging her head hard against him as she bolted upright. “Are you okay?”

The room began to settle down as she calmed herself down. Steve was sitting by her bed, his hand gently rubbing her head where she had banged him. Shouldn’t he be rubbing his own head?

“Sorry. Nightmare. Hope I didn’t shake the whole building.”

Skye touched her face where the pain had been. It was a dream. She laughed a single mirthless laugh. Of course it was a dream. Ward had never done that too hard. He might had been overbearing and always forcing his way, but he never once intentionally hurt her. The whole idea was ludicrous.

Steve took her hand and trailed his thumb where she had been rubbing her face. “You’ll be okay. I won’t let anything hurt you,” he murmured though it was probably to him than to her. She took in his comforting scent as his hand lingered on her cheek and smiled.

Only Captain America could make safety have a scent.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

“Geez girl.” Clint was leaning against the counter when she came into the kitchen the next morning. “You weren’t kidding about making things shake. I could feel it three rooms down-“

Natasha elbowed him hard in the ribs. “Ow! Whatcha do that for? It’s the truth!” He swung his attention back to Skye, studiously ignoring the elbowing and glares Natasha threw at him. “Girl. Next time Tash and I are getting things going, you mind shaking things up a bit?”

The rest of the kitchen conversation fell silent. Bruce, Bucky and Steve had been chatting quietly nor far away had turned their attention to Clint’s loud question. Natasha grabbed Clint by the elbow and dragged him away. “It’s a promise!!!” He hollered.

Skye felt her face heat up from his insinuations. Shaking things up while they were… doing it. What was she? A vibrator? She banged her head against the fridge door. What a terrible pun-ish joke. She banged her head harder, wishing to drive the whole image Clint had placed in her mind away. Clint and Natasha doing the deed.

“Are you abusing _my_ fridge? No one abuses _my_ fridge. Step away from _my_ fridge!”

Tony stared at her. “Why are you abusing my fridge any way. Oh that’s right. Clint just made you a walking vibrator.”

“I am NOT a walking _vibrator_.” Skye huffed. Was everyone going to call her that now because that’s seriously embarrassing.

“Tell that to my seismometer. It’s disappointed!”

“I’m sorry?” Was he going to send her away? Yes that would be the good for them. Skye knew that they would eventually send her away. They always did. She stuffed her insecurities below her snarky attitude with a quiet reminder to not get too attached. “I’ll try to make it up to your seismometer.”

He waved it away. “No. I expected tremors. It wasn’t as much as I expected though. It was only 2? What was it Jarvis?”

“2.5 Sir.”

“Yes. Disappointing! I needed more tremors to test the newer scanner. Agent said you had recorded a 4 before. I was depending on that.”

“You wanted a big tremor?” She asked incredulously.

“No time to waste. The scanner calls.” Tony dragged her into the lift and she casted a furtive glance around the kitchen area. Steve waved a goodbye and mouthed a good luck. Darn that sarcastic grin.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

“Okay Vibrator. I’m going to need you to shake things up.” He tapped a metal box as he strode pass it to the computers. “This is the scanner. Banner and I have some theories on your abilities. Frankly Coulson did a terrible job on cataloguing your abilities. Makes things shakes. Very helpful. How far? How strong? This baby here will count. Now I need you to shake things. Shake this chair.”

He placed the chair in the middle of the room.

“It’s not like I can just control my powers. If I could, I wouldn’t be here and don’t call me that.”

“Emotions right. So I read your file on Grant Ward and Cal? Your father? I saw his picture by the way. Your father. The psychopath.” He motioned wildly. “No wonder they didn’t want you.”

His words dredged up the memories of Grant Ward and Cal. Skye couldn’t comprehend why Cal wanted her so desperately. He said it was a promise but a promise for what? She had spoken to him and she had found him unhinged.

“And Grant Ward? Did he really only just kidnapped you to see your father?”

Skye tried to pull herself together and direct it to the chair but Tony’s very well-placed words began to break through the barriers. Then before she could channel it properly, he shot her.

Bloody Tony Stark shot her with his repulsor ray.

“What the hell was that for?” The ground began shaking violently.

“Oh yes!” Tony hooted and then he shot her. Again.

She roared and chucked the chair at him with her shaking or her shaking had managed to shake it to his direction. She wasn’t sure if it was a coincidence. “Ow! Stop that!” Tony evaded the flying chair and it landed in a bunch of computers. “Oh! You did not just destroy my computers!” The ground shook even harder.

“Okay Vibrator you need to calm down. Take deep breaths. The scanner has calculated enough. You can stop now.”

“Stop calling me Vibrator!” But she tried anyway, forcing herself to take slow deep breaths and channel the energy inwards. Skye winced at the familiar pain that ran through her arms.

“Okay good job.” Tony sagged against the table. “Jarvis report.”

“Sir the bottom scanner has picked up a Richter scale of 8 and it remained consistent throughout the building. The tremors were localized only around the building of a radius of 500 metres.”

“Good. Good. Put me on video intercom to the others. Sorry people. Vibrator here decided to have a temper tantrum. All taken care of now.” She bristled and flung a book at him. “HEY! People here are trying to talk!”

Taken care of. It sounded like she was a pet or a dog. Skye clenched her fist and chucked another book at him. “Don’t call me Vibrator!” She would strangle him if he called her vibrator again. Well not really strangle him. Skye felt the familiar sense of her powers being activated coursing through her.

“Woman. Calm down. I apologize. I was trying to do a test” Oh yes and he shot her twice! With a repulsor ray.

She stalked over to him and punched him. “That’s for the repulsor ray. Really? Repulsor rays?”

“Well in my defense it’s more like an ant bite.”

“I’ll show you ant bite.” Skye pulled her shirt up and showed him the red splot on her sides. “Really ant bite?”

“Actually yes. This isn’t a real repulsor ray. It’s modified version of a repulsor ray. We were using it on Banner about his anger control so it actually only just shocks. He has excellent anger control now by the way, watch this.”

He shot at Bruce who had just came in.

Bruce merely sighed and pinched his nose bridge. “Stark-”


	9. Steve's POV - American Jarvis

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jarvis learns American slang. What is this!? Clint made a move on Skye!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I did say the next update is on the 18 June, but being a bad girl and doing the 101 things I have to do (it's actually 7 big things), I sort of wrote it out. So I figured why not post. My friend had a bet that I wouldn't be able to not resist updating instead of focusing of work. YES YOU WON THE BET. 
> 
> There is an update in Tags. I considered it very strongly and had an idea but now, I shall confirm it. There will be a 'Ward Redemption' in a few chapters.
> 
> Also please note that I do really have work commitments, so for now until the 18 June, please don't expect regular updates as it was.

When a hand clapped over his mouth and dragged behind him the counter, Steve almost flipped his attacker until his super senses picked up Skye’s scent from the hand and the quiet giggling. Natasha was lying prone on the floor along with Skye settling into the position beside her. They motioned with their eyebrows to the empty hallway and then to the empty spot beside Skye and intrigued, Steve lay prone beside Skye.

“What are we doing?” he whispered. The smell of dinner was enticing but judging by the two of them lying here and Barton in the vents, he was extremely curious on what was going on.

There was a small flash on the tablet. Scrolls of text ran through the monitor. Skye flipped the mobile keyboard open and started typing furiously. Somehow this reminded Steve of the first time he met Skye. She was then an unknown entity in his slowly widening social circle, an attractive woman among all the other attractive women. It was chance that made him sit on that couch that night.

Now having known the feisty woman for over two years and reaching three, Steve was not sure how he had lived his life without her snarky attitude. Yes, Stark was snarky as well but she wasn’t anything like Stark. She had this odd naïve, optimistic gleam about her and the ability to see good in everyone that drew him in. Stark was nothing like her, he had this huge wall and hid behind his barbs, too unwilling to let anyone in and even those who were let in rarely saw the real him.

“SKYE!” Tony yelled, stalking down the hallway, dressed in nothing but a towel. “SKYE! What did you do to the water!?”

Tony spun around the empty dining room. “Javris! Where are they?”

Oddly, there was no reply from his prized AI. Beside him, Skye was still typing furiously, her pouty lips muttering silently as she typed. Natasha placed a small cube in the middle of them and switched it on just as Tony turned to check the counters. The cube was probably a camouflage device, judging by Tony’s lack of reaction.

Steve clapped his mouth when he finally got a closer look at Tony. Shampoo was still dribbling down his face and in his half-dressed and semi-crazed state, he never looked more ridiculous than now.

Tony pulled out a keyboard, his eyebrows knotting as he tried to undo whatever Skye had done. Steve suspected that there was some hacker versus programmer showdown going down simply by the increased speed of Skye’s typing.

“SKYE! I’m going to be so mad when I get hold of you!”

A large grin sprung across her face as she loudly pressed the enter button.

“Eat this, Sir.” Tony swung his head upwards at Jarvis’s sudden voice. It was Jarvis’s typical british accent but his speech patterns was off. Steve frowned trying to place a finger on where he heard the AI’s line from.

“Jarvis?”

“What up- Sir?”

Tony pressed his fingers on his eyelids. Steve chuckled, realizing Jarvis was saying exactly what Barton and Skye usually greeted each other except in British accent and that made it even funnier. “What did she did to you poor thing!?”

“The most magnificent woman to descend earth did nutting to me, Sir.”

“Oh my god…” Tony groaned. “SKYE!” His rant was cut off by his suit flying to him. “NO! Not this again!”

This time instead of the iconic YMCA song that the suit danced to the last time, it began dancing to a ‘Single ladies’ song. Barton fell out of the vent, laughing.

“Jarvis.” Skye called out, leaving against the counter loudly laughing.

“What up the most holiest gal?”

“Jarvis.” Barton called out.

“What’s poppin my man?”

“Jarvis.” Steve tried, curious how the Jarvis would respond to him.

“Dude. ‘nuff ‘lready.”

“I’m going kill you Skye!” Tony hollered.

“Say cheese!” She beamed and for that moment, it seemed that the solemnness that weighed down on her had disappeared, something Steve had seen very little lately.

Natasha leaned against his shoulder, watching her as well. There was a pleased look on her face, a look that Steve knew all too well.

“You planned this didn’t you?”

And her smirk was all Steve needed to know.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

It was the nightmares again. Skye didn’t need to tell Steve about her lack of sleep due to the nightmares, he saw them in her tired eyes. She did a fairly good job in hiding it behind her make up but he was certain that he wasn’t the only one who was not fooled by her attempts. Despite that, none of them spoke about it. They just waited for Skye to talk about it, waited for her to settle down and feel comfortable.

But she never did.

It was five am according to the clock when Steve woke up to the voices near his doorway. To be fair, they probably weren’t that close to this doorway.

Barton was straddling Skye on the floor in the middle of the hallway. He almost wanted to tear Barton away had he not heard what Barton was telling Skye. “That’s a bunch of bullshit. Stark always wanted you. He told Coulson that every time he saw him. Coulson always rejected him. And abilities? Stark also had proven that his building was more than capable of withstanding your vibrations. Repeatedly too.”

An argument? He debated stepping in, but his gut told him that it was something more. From his position at the door, Steve was unable to see Skye’s face, unable to judge clearly. But it was Barton, Barton knew far to draw the lines right?

Barton got off her whilst he was still debating and pulled Skye into a hug. Steve felt his heart tighten at the sight of him hugging Skye. He squished it downwards. “And your ‘father’? Did you forget that we’re the fucking Avengers. Along with the increased security protocols that you personally installed and upgraded in Jarvis, we all know if an intruder got in, the suits would activate. Are you crazy? Where else would you be safer than here?”

Steve didn’t know what had happened but it felt like he was intruding on a very personal moment. Over the three weeks that Skye had been with them, despite her laughing and teasing, it had felt like she was hiding herself. He didn’t know why he had felt that and in spite of trying to ‘tear’ the proverbial walls down, he felt like he kept coming to a dead-end.  He promised Coulson that he would try to draw her out but all that had been occurring was she falling further into herself.

He was happy that whatever had happened, it seemed that Barton had gotten himself in. As long as she was happy, he was happy for her. He watched Barton wipe her tears and press a kiss on her temple, whispering too quietly for even him to pick up.

Barton had succeeded where he had failed. He was happy for her. Steve told himself that and forced himself to turn away from the duo.

He was happy for her because she would be happy with Barton. Barton was a good man and he would make she was safe and happy.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Barton and Skye was notably missing from breakfast. Steve tried to shrug it off on the fact that Natasha didn’t seem affected. Did Natasha know that Barton was with Skye? He had assumed that Natasha was together with Barton from the way Barton seemed to imply all the time. Modern relationships were very confusing. In his time, men never slept with women unless they were engaged or in a very serious relationship that would lead to marriage.

Did Barton sleep with Skye? He clenched his jaws, refusing to think about Skye and Barton together in bed. Steve studiously chewed his pancakes and then dragged Bucky into the gym. He needed something to take his mind off Skye and Barton together – in bed.

The world wasn’t going to let him get her off his mind so easily. He heard her screaming and saw Clint carrying her into the gym. So they _were_ in the same bedroom together. Steve took a deep breath, trying desperately to focus and threw a punch at Bucky.

“Clint you’re so getting it!”

Bucky whistled, his arms dropping to the side as he watched the fight between Clint and Skye. “She’s really good.” Steve couldn’t help but feel a small glow of pride of agreement with Bucky’s statement. He had after all spent several afternoons with her training her fighting skills as well.

The way they danced together made him feel like he was watching one of those modern dances that Natasha had dragged him to. That was until he saw Clint kick Skye in the stomach and Skye took the full blunt force of it. He felt himself go cold as he watched her fly towards the wall. Skye would be severely injured. The force and the position of her body, she would hurt her spine. Steve ran, hoping he could get to her to soften the blow when she flew outwards, towards Clint instead of away.

She slammed into Clint and they flew for several metres then slowed to a stop. The only movement in their bodies was the heavy breathing.

“Skye?!” Steve clapped her face, checking her pain. She stared at him dazed as though seeing straight through him. “Skye are you okay? Jarvis! Call Bruce!”

Clint was breathing heavily, quietly groaning but responsive to Natasha’s questions. Skye seemed to just spread her palms out, staring at them blankly.

“Skye. Skye.” Steve lightly patted her.

“The vibrating.” She mumbled. She was coming back.

Her brown eyes managing to focus on his. “Are you okay?” He asked again.

She nodded and since she did not seem to complain of any pain or even seemed to register pain, he pulled her to her feet. Clint grimaced, clutching his chest.  “I think she broke my rib.” Clint coughed.

Skye was still staring at her palms dazed. She might have a concussion. Steve turned to Skye, watching her strange reaction. Bruce and Tony hurried towards them.

“The vibrating.” Skye repeated, stretching her hand out the weight machine. Then the machine exploded, bits of metal flying out.

“Everything is vibrating.” She repeated again.

“What the fuck just happened?” Tony flung his arm over his head, flinging himself to the ground.

“Language.” Steve said before really registering what he just said.

Tony stared at him incredulously. “Did he just say _language_ to me?”

 

 


	10. Skye's POV - Running away

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skye runs away and is dragged back

“Stark needs to pay for shooting at you with his repulsor rays.” Natasha begun. Skye climbed onto the sofa and stared at the two master assassins with her cereal in her hand, waiting for Natasha to continue. “Something that will piss him off.”

“He hates getting his showers interrupted.” Clint offered.

“You could rehash the twerking suits prank.”

She smirked at the two assassins. “I could edit Jarvis.”

Natasha nodded approvingly. “Let’s do all three.”

“I’ll turn his water off.” Clint heaved himself up the vent and disappeared.

Natasha took out a small cube. “Camouflage. To hide from Stark in plain sight and watch himself get screwed over.”

“Perfect.” Skye jumped over the counter and lay down beside her. She saw Steve enter the kitchen and she grabbed him, giggling as she dragged him to behind the counter.

“What are we doing?” he whispered, getting the sense of something secretive happening.

Before she could reply, her programs had begun to notify her of Jarvis trying to reactivate. She begun typing furiously to counter his programs. Oh he was an AI but she was so many steps ahead of him, she begun entering into his base code and found it surprisingly easy to edit. Oh Tony was so going to be pissed. Skye almost burst out laughing at the possibility of Tony’s reaction.

“SKYE!” Tony yelled, stalking down the hallway, dressed in nothing but a towel. “SKYE! What did you do to the water!?”

Tony spun around the empty dining room. “Javris! Where are they?”

She suppressed her giggling, quickly entering the final edits into the Jarvis’s coding.  Tony’s reaction must have been funnier than she expected as she felt Steve’s body beside her shaking quietly, struggling to stop himself from laughing out loud.

Tony had entered the fray to figure what the hell was going on. She knew he would be furious when she disenabled Jarvis. Everything had been predicted.

“SKYE! I’m going to be so mad when I get hold of you!”

Oh yes, he was! She loudly pressed the enter button, letting her secondary programs run in the background. Here it comes!

“Eat this, Sir.” She saw Tony swing his head upwards at Jarvis’s sudden voice.

“Jarvis?”

“What up- Sir?”

Tony pressed his fingers on his eyelids. “What did she did to you poor thing!?”

“The most magnificent woman to descend earth did nutting to me, Sir.”

“Oh my god…” Tony groaned. “SKYE!” His rant was cut off by his suit flying to him. “NO! Not this again!”

This time instead of the iconic YMCA song that the suit danced to the last time, it began dancing to a ‘Single ladies’ song. Clint fell out of the vent, laughing. He had been capturing the whole scene of Tony stalking the kitchen with a towel wrapped around his waist and shampoo dribbling down his face and now, semi-clad in his suit and forced to dance the single ladies dance.

“Jarvis.” Skye called out, leaning against the counter loudly laughing. This was funnier than she expected. Tony stared at her with a look that was mixed between anger, amusement and horror.

In spite of all the coding he had done to counter her previous programming, she had undone it all. Tony was a fantastic programmer and engineer, she was just a better hacker. She beamed at him.

“What up the most holiest gal?”

“Jarvis.” Clint called out.

“What’s poppin my man?”

“Jarvis.” Steve called out. Yes, there was a specific response to every one of them. It was going to take Tony ages to remove her coding.

“Dude. ‘nuff ‘lready.”

“I’m going kill you Skye!” Tony hollered.

“Say cheese!” She smirked, making sure to take a fantastic picture of him and sent it to everyone in the Avengers’ tower.  “Karma hurts like a bitch, doesn’t it? Stark?”

He groaned loudly, blinking furiously as his shampoo dribbled close to his eye and despite his snarky tone, Skye saw the glimmer of pride in his eye.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

_“I’ll kill every last one of them.” Ward promised. “You are mine! No one will love you more than me!” He pressed his lips against hers, mapping her mouth with his tongue. He held her tightly, pressing his face into her neck. “I love you so much.”_

_His hands carded her hair gently. His brown eyes taking in her face. “Mine.”_

She woke up, a chill running down her spine. The gleam in his eyes. The gleam in her father’s eyes. They were all related. Was it Hydra? Was it Whitehall? Was it from her own father than brainwashed them?

Skye held her head between her hands, her mind trying to figure it out. Her father had been the one who killed the Shield agents that were trying to protect her. It wasn’t Death who followed her. It was her father. Her father would kill every one of them.

She had been here for three weeks. It was enough time for her father to figure where she was. Nothing would stop him. She wasn’t going to be responsible for the Avengers’ death.

Skye dumped her things haphazardly into the bag. There was no chance of Jarvis alerting anyone to her movements. Whether she had planned it when she was hacking into Jarvis while pranking on Stark or done it subconsciously, she had essentially changed Jarvis’ alerts about her to non-existent.

The hallway was empty and silent.

Two am. No one was awake according to Jarvis. No one would realize she’s gone until she was miles away from them. No one would care.

She was no longer human.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

But things didn’t go quite as well as she expected.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Clint asked just behind her. She spun around, surprised. Her nerves were frayed from the fear of Ward or Cal catching her. It was a bad idea, she had half encouraged herself when she was at the bus interchange waiting for a bus. Ward would find her or Cal would, and frankly Skye wasn’t sure which was the worse of the two evils.

“Away.” Was all she said, she was tired. She didn’t want to explain that no, she didn’t have a bloody clue where to go to. Where was safe? Skye would just keep travelling, never stopping. That was the only way to stop death, to stop her father from catching her. If she had no attachments, there was nothing her father could do to harm.

It felt like such a long while before he spoke again that Skye almost forgot about the man sitting beside her. “Why?”

Why? Because she was afraid of what Ward and Cal would do to them? Because she saw and remembered the pictures of what Cal did to highly trained Shield agents. Because she liked the Avengers far too much to subject to the possibility of that. Because she wasn’t them, she wasn’t human. Because her powers were a threat to them as much as the fear of her father getting to them.

Skye closed her eyes, breathing in deeply, letting herself feel nothing but a numbness. “Because I have to.”

He pulled her towards him, his arm over her shoulders. “You have to tell us to let us help you. We’re not all Xavier.”

She smiled slightly at his mildly barbed comment on Xavier. Clint met Xavier several weeks ago and he didn’t take the professor’s intrusion on his mind too well. She let herself lean into his warmth.

Jarvis had not alerted anyone about her movements, but she had not expected someone to have been physically watching her. She hadn’t even managed to escape for more than an hour. Why couldn’t they just leave her alone?

Skye pushed herself away from him. The bus was leaving, she was going on it and run away.  “It was great staying with you guys but staying in one place at a time isn’t my kind of thing.”

She was surprised when Clint followed up the bus and sat down beside her. “You can’t sit there. That’s someone else’s seat.”

“It was. I bought it off them.”

“You can’t just buy someone else’s seat.”

“I can. I just did.” He folded his arms, his legs blocking the aisle. “So are you going to tell me why are you running away? It’s a three hour of bus ride and I’m a very patient man.”

Skye attempted to vault over him but his arms wound around her and held her on his lap. “Come on, Skye. We’re not your enemy. You know that.”

There was no running from a master assassin if he pursued her seriously. She should have put sedatives in their food if she wanted to seriously run away from them. Not that she would have expected them to. She wasn’t one of them. She had been unceremoniously dumped onto them by her old team.

She heaved a loud sigh. “Fine. Let’s go back.”

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

She was waiting for it when they got back to their floor. “What the hell were you thinking?” He pulled Skye up by the collar. “Leaving with a shitty little letter?” The letter she had left for them was grasped tightly in Clint’s hands.

She pulled away, adjusting her shirt. She was sick of it. They were going to take her in, make her feel comfortable and when it felt like home, she would have to leave. It always happened. What was the matter with her leaving earlier? It’s not like they knew her enough to care?

Skye took in Clint’s look, the mask Clint generally left on was gone. What should she say? Skye couldn’t care anymore.

“So I’m back for however long you want to keep me. Happy?” She pushed passed Clint but Clint wasn’t done. He pulled Skye back, flipping her and throwing her onto the floor.

“However long we want to _keep_ you?” Clint asked in a dangerously quiet voice, his body straddling Skye, not letting her escape from his grip.  “What the fuck are you trying to imply? That we’re going to chuck you out? If you haven’t realized, the one running away is YOU.”

Skye lay on the ground motionlessly. Heat flooded her face and she clenched her fists. “Let’s be honest here. DC dumped me here with you. You’re my babysitter.” Her jaw trembled as she continued on, hating herself for her momentarily trembling but unable to stop it. “Cal is chasing me. You read my files. Death follows me everywhere I go.”

Her hand reached up to cup her eyes, feeling the buildup of heat in her eyes. “I killed Trip! Trip is dead because of me! Who’s next? You? Tony? Steve? Death doesn’t follow me everywhere I go. DEATH IS MY FATHER.”

Blasted emotions. Always crying. Skye felt the ground tremble beneath her and she willed her heart to slow, to calm down.

“Even my abilities are just an accident waiting to happen. What if I took the whole building down from a particularly bad nightmare? It’s only a matter of time you’ll all think I’m more trouble than I’m worth and chuck me out. I’m just taking myself out earlier. BIG DEAL. It’s not like you guys wanted me to begin with.”

“That’s a bunch of bullshit. Stark always wanted you. He told Coulson that every time he saw him. Coulson always rejected him. And abilities? Stark also had proven that his building was more than capable of withstanding your vibrations. Repeatedly too.”

Clint wasn’t done, but he got off her and pulled her into a hug. “And your ‘father’? Did you forget that we’re the fucking Avengers. Along with the increased security protocols that you personally installed and upgraded in Jarvis, we all know if an intruder got in, the suits would activate. Are you crazy? Where else would you be safer than here?”

“You were always my crazy little sister. We’ll always love you here.” He whispered to her, wiping her tears away and pressing a kiss on her temple.

Skye never had a big brother before but if she had one, it would have been like Clint. The first few times she interacted Clint, he had taken a largely protective stance over her. He taught her how to shoot better when Tasha taught her several moves. Over the three weeks she was here, he had hovered protectively, making sure she ate, making sure Tony didn’t go too crazy. The brotherly love Skye felt from him was so overwhelming that she broke down yet again and cried. She had to stop being so weepy.

It was unbecoming.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

“Come on runaway.” Skye heard Clint said before she was hauled over his shoulder and dragged from her room.

“Clint you asshole! Put me down right now!”

Skye was glad she had fallen asleep with her shorts and shirt on last night instead of her usual PJs because when Clint threw her on the mat, Steve, Bucky and Natasha were staring at her. Well of course they would have been staring at her. Clint had carried her into the gym with her kicking and screaming (half-heartedly).

“Clint you’re so getting it!”

She tackled him, he evaded but she swept his feet out. He rolled out, swinging a kick at her face. Skye caught the foot and twisted his foot, he spun his body, bringing his other leg to kick the side of her head. She ducked and tried a flying kick as he landed. He rolled out of the way and vaulted to his feet. With the weeks of grueling practice from Tash, her body moved easily into evasive action, this time punching him as he attempted to land a punch. Her hands caught his hand and she pulled him towards her, landing a punch in his stomach.

That was when Skye felt the same feeling in her body. Her body was humming with energy. She could feel the air humming, the sweat on Clint vibrating. Clint kicked her in the stomach and she flew backwards towards the wall but she felt invincible.

Suddenly everything felt like it was slowing down. Skye could see the horrified look on Clint’s face. She knew he had assumed she would have blocked it to a certain extend instead of taking it fully. His body was moving towards where she would land. Natasha had half moved towards where the first aid kid was. Steve and Bucky were half moving towards her as well.

The vibrating.

Everything was vibrating.

She focused on the air between her the wall and instead of flying into the wall, she flew forwards, straight into Clint’s torso.

Everything was moving back to normal.

She lay sprawled on Clint, both of them breathing heavily. She spread her palms out, her mind trying to remember the feeling.

“The vibrating.”

“Are you okay?” Steve asked and pulled her to her feet when she nodded before checking Clint.

“I think she broke my rib.” Clint coughed.

“The vibrating.” Skye repeated, stretching her hand out the weight machine. Her mind focusing on the machine apart, her body feeling the strange surge through her and then the machine exploded.

“Everything is vibrating.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So uh, what do you think of the characters I mentioned so far? Skye, Steve, Tony, Clint. I didn't want it just about the two of them. Have some half-baked plans to have more Clint and Natasha, not sure if it's a good idea. I like Bucky but somehow he doesn't fit very well into this story. There will be some REAL Steve x Skye next chapter (like FINALLY), I like only wrote that part and the rest of the next chapter is a ??? A bit worried if they're OOC.


	11. Steve's POV - Real smooth Steve

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve realizes he's in love with Skye and Skye goes missing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Important notes.**  
>  The latter part of the chp is technically AoS Season 2 last episode but I changed things up so while there are parts of the last episode here, there will be 'backtracked' episodes to the Cal's side much later. Just switching the timings around.
> 
> Enjoy the slow burrrrrrrrrrrn.

Steve was not surprised at the girl’s tenacity. Ever since she had figured it out, she had practiced it every day. At first it was big things, she took the weights machine apart and attempted to it back. Then it was guns.  Steve was not at all surprised that it was the pistols that she finally managed to take apart and put it back with her powers.

She tried to explain her powers. Everything was vibrating.  Banner and Stark seemed to understand, Natasha and Barton didn’t care. All they cared was that she had her powers under control and knew how to use it now. That had taken her a grand total of two weeks to learn. She was no master at it yet. Skye was still far better at smashing large objects with brute force and there were times when her powers failed.

On the day when she ‘passed’ Stark’s and Banner’s exams, Stark decided to throw a grand ball. It was a grand ball for the _seventeen_ of them. He was not going to even kid himself about the reason why Stark was throwing a _ball._ Steve cringed at the word usage that Stark had liberally used, then cringed at the pathetic reason. There was only so many times the team and Pepper could shoot Stark down at throwing a fancy dinner for themselves before they gave in. Plus they did run out of reasons. They had the first few ones where: Skye was still settling, Skye didn’t have control over her powers, it would freak Skye out too badly, it would cause Skye to feel segregated from the team because of the pairings (an excuse that came from Barton which surprised them all because he rarely gave an input) and when they started running out of excuses with Skye, they pulled up Bucky. Bucky would feel stressed, Bucky wouldn’t enjoy it, Darcy would try to corner Bucky and that would make things so awkward. Then with the insistence of Stark, everyone just gave in.

He adjusted his black bow and stared at himself at the mirror. Formal wear, mandatory dancing. He was so going to hate tonight. Steve paused outside his door, leaving his room just in time to catch Skye.

Her brown hair fell in soft curls down her shoulder as she turned to beam at him. The blue gown fell wonderfully down her body, mapping each curve that he never (consciously) noticed. Steve swallowed audibly and slammed his door shut a little too fiercely. Somewhere in his mind was screaming him to kiss those red lips that were smiling back at him.

“Y-You’re-“ He stammered, cursing his mouth’s inability to function properly, or maybe the brain. All he do was stare at her, a sight to see. “Hello.” He tugged at his black bow again and offered his elbow.

“Hello.” She laughed, placing her hand at the crook of his proffered elbow.

Smooth, real smooth Steve. He wanted to bang his head against the wall.

One of the moments he desperately wished he had the glib of Bucky. He felt the heat of her body on his side as they fitted into the lift. Her brown eyes twinkling in amusement as she repeated a joke she heard. He wasn’t paying attention, well not that much to what she was talking about.

He clenched his fists, forcing slow breaths through his nose, pushing the ache in his heart somewhere else.

“You okay?” Skye raised an eyebrow. Steve spotted a smirk, coy and triumphant, tugging on Natasha’s lips as she leaned to whisper to Barton. Barton turned to glance at them, his lips too twitching in response to Natasha’s comment. Were they speaking so softly that he couldn’t hear them?

Steve was certain it was just the pounding of his blood in his ears that drowned everything else except the delightful laughter of Skye and the heat of her body as they walked down the stairs towards the team.

When Tony claimed her first dance, his side felt strangely cold and absent.

“Missing her, lover boy?” He heard Natasha say as she sidled up to his right.

Bucky swung an arm around his neck. “Don’t wait too long.” He nodded at Fitz who was watching ~~them~~ Skye dancing with Tony.

“She’s taken, Bucky. Barton’s girl.”

Natasha broke out in howling laughter, beckoning Barton who obediently trotted to them, clearly wanting in on the joke that sent both Natasha and Bucky gripping their sides. Steve couldn’t help but feel that he missed something. “He thought you were with Skye.” Natasha choked out, finally catching her breath.

Barton frowned and made a face. “Ew. Skye’s like my baby sister.” Slinging an arm around her waist, he whispered, “Besides, I already have you.”

Steve politely turned away as they kissed, or rather made out (in modern day's language) judging by the fierceness of the ‘kiss’. Skye was dancing with Fitz now, she looked so happy. He watched Fitz’s shy blush on his cheeks, his hand on the small of her back. She was required to dance with every guy since it was ‘her’ _ball_ , it wouldn’t be too awkward for him to ask right? He hesitated, watching Bucky step up to Skye asking for a dance. Oh, she wouldn’t want to dance with a clumsy dancer as him.

Skye turned to him, her beautiful blue gown fluttering as she walked towards him. Her dark hair framing her face messily from the fast dance that Bucky had led her through.

“Hi!” She said, slightly out of breath. “Want to dance? I had marching orders to dance with everyone and you’re the last one left.”

Not really. She still had Sam and Banner and a whole bunch of others from her team that he didn't even know the names of to dance with, but he wasn’t going to reject her.

“Sure.”

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

He could stare at her all day. He had realized this a few days ago rather belatedly. He was most definitely in love with her.

She had fitted so perfectly in his arms that he was sad that the song had ended.

Steve shook himself from his thoughts, enjoying her excited motioning as she described one of the missions she had been on. He slung a warm arm around her shoulders when she trembled from the cool chilly evening air. His hands unconsciously brushing the dark strands behind her ear.

“Steve?” she asked questioningly. He had to tell her and alone in the balcony with her was to better than others. If he didn’t tell her now, he would never have a better opportunity.

He should! He had to!

Every fibre of him demanding him to tell her, to kiss her. She had just gotten out of a bad relationship and her ex had been Hydra, betrayed her family, kidnapped her, gotten her into a bad situation. He couldn’t.

He just couldn’t.

“It seemed to be irritating you.” He merely said. “The strand of hair I mean. We should go back in, you’re cold.”

And with the back of his mind cursing at him, he released her shoulders, placing his hand on the small of her back, ushering her back to the warm lounge.

He just couldn’t.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

“What do you mean she’s gone?” Steve was yelling at the wrong person, but he didn’t care. Barton was supposed to pick her up. They had been busy fighting the Hydra stragglers and when Skye radioed for help, Barton had been the closest to grab her.

Barton failed.

He shouldn’t have allowed her to come on the mission. She would be safe and sound in the towers if he didn’t. He shouldn’t have given in to her incessant demands.

“It’s not Legolas’ fault,” Stark said. Steve could feel Stark's anger rolling off him in a palpable wave. Even in his Ironman suit, Steve could see Stark’s tensed body as he manoeuvred through whatever he did on his tech. “We’ll find her Capsicle. We’ll find her.”

Had he allowed her on too early? It was like San Juan all over again. Sitting uselessly waiting for news. Stark had placed a tracker on their suits yet here it was, useless. What’s the point of having a tracker if it was easily removed? What had happened to her?

“Stark, it’s Coulson.” It must have been hours or maybe days later when Barton said that. Steve couldn’t remember how long he had been sitting in the tech room waiting for news. Had he fallen asleep here as well? He had remembered to eat, Pepper and Darcy had nagged them to eat. That he remembered. He lifted his head at Barton’s words.

Had Coulson found her? Maybe Coulson had been the one who picked her up. Of course he did. Skye was safe and sound. They weren’t able to call in with all the radio interference, so it was only now that Skye could report in.

 “Speak to me, Zombie.”

“Stark. We found Skye.” Steve felt a sense of relief as his thoughts sped on then plunge at Coulson’s next three words. “Ward has her.”

No, no, no, no. That wasn’t supposed to happen. He was supposed to protect her. That was impossible. How did Ward find her?

“How? Details.”

“We’re not sure what happened. We were recruited Ward to track down the remaining Hydra upper brass and he and Agent 33 managed to skip out with Agent Morse. Agent Morse saw Skye leave willingly with Ward and Agent 33. We think he might have done something to her since-” Coulson looked tired as he ploughed on. “He managed to brainwash Bakshi very nicely, tortured Agent Morse. So it is all plausible.”

Steve had gone absolutely still, the colour in his face, bleeding out as he process what he had just heard. His stomach curling into a cold tight pit. Tony was arguing with Coulson, his snarky attitude only serving to exacerbate the growing tensions.

Steve gripped his head tightly, not even feeling the clench of Bucky’s hand on his shoulder. He failed her. He failed protecting her from whom she was terrified of. She never spoke about her nightmares to anyone that he knew of, but when he woke her from them, he heard her pleading. He heard her saying that man’s name in a small voice he never wished to hear her ever articulate in. So small, so broken that he wanted bury her in his arms to hide her from everything she was afraid of.

He drew a deep breath, shaking the cloak of fear and despair from his shoulders. He could rage later or hold her tightly later but now he needed to be strong.

Skye needed him to be strong.

 

 


	12. Skye's POV - Ward

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ward kidnaps her - sort of.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ward is an interesting guy. He's a bit psychotic (in my opinion), his methods are overly aggressive and his reasons are just weird. But I've always wondered what if Ward had been brainwashed? Or maybe gone bonkers because of Lorlelai and let's not kid ourselves about Cal. Cal is weird but so is Ward! So here's my take on it. Ward is..... misunderstood or semi-psychoticish and he really is trying to do the right thing even if its just in his mind and his method is plain weird.

It was in that one moment that Skye finally figured how her powers worked. She wasn’t shaking the ground, oh no, it was far more than that. She was controlling the vibrations of atoms and with that revelation, everything became easier and became a matter of fine-tuning.

It was a lot easier exploding things and eventually she managed to narrow from exploding to deconstructing to reassembling things. Considering how much firearms training she had undergone from May and Natasha, she did not find any irony that the first thing she successfully reassembled was her trusty pistol.

Passing Starks and Banner’s exams was only slightly more difficult since involved dismantling, reconstructing and exploding big and small items from a variety of locations, moving at a variety of speed and behind a variety of obstacles. The last was something she still had difficulty with but at least she had a decent amount of success with it and Stark passed her.

Pepper had been excited for her about being able to control her powers now. If only she could control them during her nightmares now, that would be just fantastic. It would be something she had to deal with. One step at a time, Clint told her. Worry about the small ones first then the bigger ones later. She wasn’t going to argue.

She couldn’t had done it without the Avenger’s support, especially Steve’s and Clint’s. She could definitely have done it without Tony’s repulsor shots at her though. Skye gave a wry smile as she stared at herself wearing the blue mermaid gown that Pepper had picked out for her. Just tonight, she would let Tony do exactly what he wanted. If it wasn’t for him, she wouldn’t be here.

If it weren’t for Clint and Steve, she would have run away faster than Tony could say Vibrator girl. Though she would have smacked him first before running away if Tony ever said that to her again.

Skye dithered outside her door. Once she went down, she would have to dance and act real cool and happy. She froze hearing Steve’s door open and turned around, plastering a wide smile.

“Y-You’re-“ He stammered, his blue eyes shyly glancing at her. Did she look terrible? She flickered down her gown, checking her gown properly. Nope. Everything all in. “Hello.” He finally said.

Oh that shy little boy. Was he embarrassed? She could totally enjoy this. Skye chuckled and placed her hand in the crook of his proffered elbow. “Hello.” 

She didn’t know men actually did that nowadays, but she had to admit that the 40s gentlemanly ways was rather charming. “I’m so glad that Tony had invited my, I mean DC’s team over. Fitz was going on about it. Apparently they all went to shop for an outfit for today. I can’t imagine Fitz and DC in black ties. Black ties! How crazy is that?”

Steve only smiled vaguely. Was he uncomfortable in her presence? “You okay?” She asked, raising an eyebrow at his silence. He hadn’t spoken a single word since his awkward ‘hello’. Steve was quiet but not that quiet and he most certainly didn’t breathe that… heavily.

“Yeah.”

She was almost relieved when Tony came to her, ‘ordering’ her to have her first dance of the night with him.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

“He’s been staring at you all night,” Clint gave a smug smile and swung her around to let her see for herself.

“You’re not the first person to tell me you know. Fitz pointed it out too.”

“He’s shy.”

She raised an eyebrow at his statement. She had been raising eyebrows a lot tonight.

Clint only shrugged. “I’d give him the shovel talk but it appears he has no balls in asking you out.”

She almost stumbled at his words. “Captain America does _not_ have interest in me.”

“His intense staring says otherwise.”

“I’m sure he’s just staring at Tony.” She motioned with her head at Tony who had been sitting opposite Steve for almost the whole night.

“If you say so.”

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

“If you want a dance with Stevie, you need to ask him.” Was the first thing Bucky said when they started dancing.

“Is everyone going to tell me that tonight?”

His lips twisted. “Clearly you’re the one with more social skills.” And since everyone she danced with was telling her that at one point or another, she damn well will ask him just so they could all just shut up about it.

“Hi!” She said, slightly out of breath. “Want to dance? I had marching orders to dance with everyone and you’re the last one left.”

“Sure.” He smiled at her. She was going to smolder that small voice in her somewhere that jumped for joy when he agreed to dance and definitely smolder the feeling of her skin on fire where his warm hands chastely placed.

She was a fool. She swore she wouldn’t entrust her heart to anyone anymore, but Skye had a sinking feeling that if it was Steve, all her determination would just crumble.

When they had enough and retired to the balcony, Skye studiously ignored all the smirks that the team especially Clint was giving her. Steve was staring at her as she filled the silence with the crusades of Fitz and Simmons back when she was with the team. Damnit, Clint was right, he had been staring at her all night and hell, she didn’t care. She liked the way he smiled at her and the way his eyes so gently fell on her. It felt like it was only for her but who was she kidding? Steve was Captain America. Captain America was polite and smiled at everyone. His lips parting as he gave some cursory remarks to her relentless chatter. 

She shivered in the evening chill. How long had they been out here?

Her breath catching in her throat when he slung his arm across her shoulders. He was so warm, she stopped herself from breathing his scent. Did he know that his scent drove her crazy? Skye doubted it.

His hands brushing the side of her face gently, his lips pursing. The inner fan girl of hers squealing away, at odds with the cautious inner voice that told her sternly to walk back in.

“Steve?” Her eyes flickered momentarily at his lips. Was he going to kiss her? Her stomach fluttered in anticipation.

“It seemed to be irritating you.” He merely said. “The strand of hair I mean. We should go back in, you’re cold.”

Yea, he wasn’t. Why would Captain America be interested in her? While she was somewhat disappointed, there was an odd sense of relief.

Relieved at what, she couldn’t tell.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

When Skye woke up, she knew she was in deep shit. Try as she might, she seriously couldn’t remember how she had gotten here. Here being a dingy room with her hands strapped to a wooden table and her metal chair nailed to the ground. She couldn’t tell if the red on the table was from dried blood or paint and somehow she really didn’t want to know and she most certainly didn’t want to know what the small cabinets on the side held. One of the things that neither the Avengers nor May had touched was torture resistance.

Skye desperately hoped it wasn’t torture but first she needed to remember how she got here. Her last memories were hazy at best though it had been a fairly stressful month.

She had been officially part of the Avengers big guns team (something she found ironic because to her Avengers always meant big guns and here the Avengers were calling her Big Guns, was she like the big BIG guns?), she had participated in several missions. Some of the missions had been working with DC to track down Hunter, track down Hydra, recover stolen artifacts from the Shield’s box. Then what?

Everything after that was a blank.

Skye remembered everything up to the cabin. Her foot was sprained, Clint was supposed to extract her after she deflecting a missile had sent her careening across the lake. She had trouble standing and seeing when she called in, Bruce said it was a concussion which Clint agreed.

Had she passed out?

Her head felt all better, her visions was alright now. Had she out been long? She laid her head on her arms. Her palms were too oddly position for her to vibrate anything to free her, it was almost as though they knew of her powers and had positioned it that way. Whatever it was, she knew the Avengers would come for her. There was a build in tracker in her Avenger outfit. She didn’t know how long she was out but they couldn’t be too far soon, right?

The door opened and the one person she had conflicting wishes on whether she missed him or not strolled through.

“Ward,” she said through clenched teeth.

“Hello darling,” he smiled. If Skye didn’t know, she would have thought that he was in fact nervous. She had never seen Ward nervous except that one time when he told her that there was no extraction because the extraction plane had been shot down.

She gestured at the straps with her eyebrows. “Are you gonna torture me? Looks awfully like out of a torture scene from the movies.”

“No!” He shook his head and took a step in front of her. “Please, just hear me out. I- I have to explain. I know you don’t want to hear from me, you wouldn’t let me finish.” He clasped his hands, taking an anxious lick of his lips. “I’ll unstrap you if you promise to just hear me out.”

“I promise.” She smiled. Like hell she would, she was getting the fuck out of here the moment he unstrapped her. He lied to her time and time over and over again. Fool me once, shame on you, Fool me twice, shame on me.

Ward ran his hand through his hand, his face was uncharacteristically expressive. “Look- just give me twenty minutes.” He got up and walked to the small cabinet. A stab of fear ran through her as she watched him. A nail puller? A knife? Skye prayed desperately for Steve to come soon.

Steve.

He would be so worried. He would find her and give her that look of relief followed by a I’m-so-very-disappointed-in-you face before launching into a fifteen minute lecture on her recklessness.

Ward returned with a book. A book? She stared at him confused. “Look. I know I lied a lot about a lot of things-“

“No shit.”

He opened the book. It was a photo album. She took in the three boys and a young girl crowding round a birthday cake. “My siblings. Christian, Thomas, Lily. I lied about a lot of things but it’s true that Garrett saved me in many ways.”

“You kidnapped me all the way just to show me… this?”

“No. I wanted to apologize. There a lot of things I did and didn’t do. You said I lied to you but there were a lot of things I told you that was the truth.” He clasped his head. “A lot of things I told you that I didn’t tell anyone either. I still love you Skye.”

His hand reached out to touch her but upon seeing how she flinched, he thought better, merely clenching his fist and letting it drop back on the book. “Please give me a chance… to make it better.”

“Garrett, he-“ He pursed his lips. “It didn’t start with Garrett. It started with Whitehall. Whitehall brainwashed Garrett who brainwashed me, your father. Agent 33. It’s difficult to explain. A lot of times it felt like I was in control but not really. I was the puppet, watching but not moving, obeying not really paying attention. It was only when I met you. Saw you. Kissed you. When it felt like I was truly in control.”

He ran a hand down his face, pacing in front of the table. “Sometimes it was me, sometimes it wasn’t. But it wasn’t any excuse.”

Somehow as he explained or attempted to, a lot of the pieces that Skye had unknowingly picked up made sense. The times when he apologized for no reason, the times when he seemed more caring than others. It was the small moments that made her fall for him, the small moments when she had seen the real him through it all. The mad gleam in their eyes. It all made terrible sense.

“So why now?” Her soft question breaking through the rambling explanation.

“Whitehall is dead. Whatever he did to us, it’s fading. More times than often, I am me again.” He unstrapped her, taking several steps back from her as though waiting for her to flee or blast him with her powers. His face and posture was in a total submission to whatever she wanted to do to him. “There’s so many things I did that I can’t apologize. No amount of words would make up for it. But if you let me.”

He looked at her. His light brown eyes meeting her dark brown eyes. The eyes stripped of the strange gleam, filled with the look she had glimpsed once or twice. This was Ward. The Ward that she fell in love with. Skye touched his face gently, the chiseled face, the stubble. He stood there, scarcely breathing, his face lightly leaning into her touch.

Skye told herself what seemed a lifetime ago that she would never accept this man again and as she touched him, her heart reminded her of Steve. Steve that looked at her almost affectionately. Steve who had been there every step of the way of mastering her own powers, through her nightmares. Never judging her, never betraying her trust. It was his large hands that comforted her and calmed her and the only man on Earth that could make safety have a scent.

Her head reminded her of Clint. Clint who ruffled her hair, hiding in the vents to reel her in to prank on Tony and the occasional Bucky. Clint who refused to give ‘his little sister’ to DC when DC came to ‘borrow’ her, who forced her out of her wall, shot arrows for her for moving target practice, ambushed her to raise her fighting skills or so he claimed.

“I loved you Ward.” She spoke after a long silence. Her heart fluttered at the memory of Steve holding her close at the dance. “A long time ago I would have given up anything to hear those words you spoke.”

“I can’t lose you-“ he took her hand and squeezed it. “You’re the only thing that’s keeping Whitehall’s brainwashing and me apart. I tried. I really tried. It’s breaking but there are parts of my mind that-”

Skye closed her eyes, throat tight with things she had wanted to say. She wanted to be angry at him, she should be angry at him, throttle him, break his bones for what he did to Fitz. Those were for the man she thought had been Ward. The man who was now clinging onto her hand was a very broken man. Try as she wanted to, she could not abandon him.

“I can try to help you, but I don’t love you anymore Ward. I’m sorry.”


	13. Steve's POV - The search

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve searches for Skye.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's technically supposed to be AoS Season 2, Epi 20, but as you can see, its really different. Some parts of it is canon but I switched it out a lot because I didn't really want to talk about the 2 shields, the fight between the two "directors" etc.
> 
> Very serious chapter, next chapter would be equally serious.

Hunting Ward was a lot harder than Steve had originally thought possible. How one single man was so much more difficult hunting down, he couldn’t fathom. Neither traffic cameras nor any form of electronic recording device had managed to catch even the shadow of him, Skye or Agent 33.

“If he brainwashed Skye, Skye probably had removed the surveillance videos of them as they moved passed. Jarvis is attempting to pick them up before Skye can remove them but Skye is a far better hacker than me,” Stark glumly admitted.

Had it been a less dire situation, someone in the team would have poked fun of Stark at admitting in being not the best at something, but everyone already knew that Skye was a far better hacker than Stark. It had been two weeks since Skye was taken. It sounded all ridiculous in his head. Skye could take Ward down. With Natasha, Barton, him and even Bucky training her, she had managed to step up toe to toe with Natasha. Considering Natasha was enhanced as well, it was no small feat. Ward was a normal male human, even disregarding her superpowers, Skye should have been able to take Ward down before she had been brainwashed.

He was missing something here. They were missing something crucial here.

“How did Ward take her?” Steve asked a very well asked question.

“Ward took her when she had a bad concussion and wasn’t able to defend herself properly. We assume that during that period as well, he had brainwashed her which made her pliant to anything he wanted her to do.” Banner tiredly answered.

“No. Don’t you get it? We’re missing something very important here. How was Ward so conveniently at that exact spot with Skye so conveniently having a concussion that rendered her unable to fight back?” Steve frowned, tapping his fingers impatiently on the table.

“Assuming Ward tapped into the comms. Are we saying we let two people shadow us without _any_ of us realizing it?  And so conveniently?”

“We agreed previously that it was possible that Ward might have shadowed us for several missions.” Banner flipped some of the notes that they have written on their assumptions.

“Yes. That’s the thing. Are you saying that none of us noticed? Barton would definitely noticed if someone shadowed us several times. Let’s not even mention Natasha and the Hulk.”

The room fell silent with only the tapping of the keyboard from Stark.

“Sir. There’s an incoming call from an unknown number for Mr Barton. His phone has been ringing persistently.” Jarvis interrupted.

“Patch it through here.”

Barton sat upright quickly and before he could protest, the line was patched through. “Thank god you answered.”

“Skye?” Steve couldn’t believe hearing her voice.

Her voice was tremulous as she spoke rapidly and quietly. “I don’t have time. I’m somewhere mountainous. I think China. This place has no name, no roads, they have modern amenities and towny stuff but none out. I don’t even know how to get here. Plane maybe. They have my dad here. I think they killed Kara. There’s something going on-“ A male voice warned her in the background. Swearing, she hung up.

Steve recognized that male voice. It was Ward. She was with him but what he said to her stuck to him. ‘They’re here!’ was what he picked up. Ward was protecting her? It didn’t make sense.

The room turned to Stark who had been attempting to trace the call. “Well-“ Stark started. The look on Stark’s face was hesitant. Steve didn’t want to admit it but being used to Stark’s bluster and ego, he found Stark’s hesitant expression even more troubling. “It’s in China somewhere in close to North Korea. Somewhere in Jilin. Jarvis locate all populated areas in Jilin that aren’t accessible by road.”

And when the screen popped up far too many possible locations. Stark mused over it. “Jarvis remove all without modern amenities.” The dots on the screen was greatly reduced but still far too many for efficiently cover.

He caught Stark’s eye and understood immediately. “We’ll spilt into four teams. Each of us will scout the populated areas. Stealth. Report back if you find anything. Thor, you’ll be stay in the planes for support. You will stand out too much. Stark and Sam, Romanova and Banner, Sam and Bucky, Barton and me.”

Steve turned from the screen, leaving them to pick their own search areas.

 “We’ll get her.” Stark squeezed his shoulder.

In time, Steve hoped. It felt like how he lost Bucky all over again.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

“No word yet?”

“Calm down, Stars and Stripes. It’s only been eight towns. There’s another ten more.”

“Correction. Stark,” Natasha interrupted. “We found the town.”

“Well looks like Jane Bond and Shrek found her. Tell me you found her.”

“I have visual on her.”

Even before Natasha had finished speaking, Steve and Barton were already in the plane and flying towards Natasha’s location. Banner was alone in the plane when they arrived.

“She went in.” Banner begun, Barton waved him off, choosing to ask Natasha directly.

“Black Widow, come in.” Barton started. Codenames when on a mission. Saving Skye was a mission. Steve wondered how they had come to this. Skye should have been safe. “Black Widow, come in.”

Barton fiddled with the comms settings on the plane. Why wasn’t Natasha responding? Steve stared at the innocently looking town. The wooden buildings with lots middling people. Not just Chinese like the other towns and villages they had scoped out.

“Black Widow, come in.”

Steve stood up, this time he had exchanged his undercover tourist clothes for his Captain America outfit. “I’m going in.” He announced. The more time they sat here waiting for Natasha to reply, the uglier things were probably getting.

“Wait.” Barton caught him by his elbow. “Let me go in first.”

“Barton-“

“I’m the wet works specialist and famous for being unseen. If there’s anyone who can get in and get out with both of them, it’s likely to be me. You need to wait for the cavalry and bring them in if I don’t come out in time.”

“Barton, we don’t know what’s going on in there. If Skye-“ Steve growled frustrated at him. Every minute they wasted arguing here, Skye could be getting hurt. Why couldn’t he understand that?

Three weeks since Skye was kidnapped. He gritted his teeth, fighting the powerful urge to throw his shield at Barton and care less on what he wanted to do. He needed to be in there. Every time he closed his eyes he remembered Skye that night in the dance; her soft, lean body in his hands, dancing across the dance floor. Her hair falling in the soft curls, her lips curling to smile at him. Then she was crying at him, asking him why he didn’t save her, bleeding in his arms.

“If Skye-“ he tried again.

“If Skye is hurt or injured and you go in and make a mess of everything, it’s going to be a lot worse.” Barton explained softly. He adjusted his bow, dressed in his tactical outfit. His eyes had the same hard look that Steve saw him carry during mission. “No one hurts my baby sister. But I much rather save them alive. Natasha in there too.”

Natasha. Steve had forgotten about Natasha. Whatever that had happened to her, it would have been bad or she would have replied. “I’m sure her comms is just broken.”

They shared a wry smile. “I hope so.”

He watched Barton jumped across the roofs. His mind wasn’t helping one bit, playing all the terrible possible situations they were in.

“Please be safe.”

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

The very unassuming man going toe to toe was not at all expected.

“What the fuck?” Sam spluttered. “He’s pushing the fucking Hulk back!”

“Language.” Stark quipped.

“Oh not you too Iron Man.”

Bucky slung Natasha across his shoulder. Natasha had been out cold since Barton carried her out with Skye and Ward following behind. Why Ward was following her, Steve couldn’t understand. Ward was bringing up the back, his face surprisingly… human. There was something different about him that Steve couldn’t figure out. But Barton had let him live so he had to trust Barton’s reasoning.

“These things don’t seem to ever stay down.” Barton grumbled, head shotting another of this ginger girl that seemed to just appear non-stop. Even Steve was having trouble with her. No matter how many he and Stark and incapacitated ~~her~~ them, they just popped out of seemingly thin air.

“Zombie must have spawned them. Are we having some kind of Agent Zombie army?” Stark swore.

Skye’s face was oddly blank.

“Am I a thing as well?” She asked.

“Skye?” Steve moved towards her but she backed away.

“She multiples! It’s not like any of these bullets hurt her, Skye.” Barton replied.

“But she’s not a thing.”

“No… Skye.” Barton said in an exasperated tone. “Are you still thinking about that?”

“What’s going on?” Steve asked. Barton and Skye stared at each other, almost as though having a silent conversation. Her face was drawn and tired but empty of emotion. He had never seen her face so empty before. She always wore her heart on her sleeve, her face was so expressive.

“Skye please. Whatever that happened, we can talk about it later.” Steve said, pulling her towards him, away from Ward.

The very unassuming man was doing a very good job in pushing the Hulk back. He didn’t know what was going to happen once he was done with Hulk.

Skye turned to the man that he had been eyeing nervously. “Dad. Calm down.”

Dad!? That man was her father?

Stark hesitated and a blue shot flew towards him, kicking him out of the sky. His suit sparked.

“Lincoln! Don’t!” Skye called out. The man, her father, relaxed. Skye pulled her hand out of his grasp, taking several steps back. “Leave. I'm staying here.”

Ward came up behind her, his arm raised. What was he doing?! “Skye!” Steve threw his shield but it was too late. Ward swung the butt of his rifle and smacked Skye soundly on her head. Barton caught her as she fell unconscious and flung her onto his shoulder.

“Quick!” Ward hurried to the plane, limping.

Barton followed hurriedly without a word.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

“Okay. Let’s address the elephant in the room.” Stark begun. “What the fuck is _he_ doing here and would someone explain why the whole town was practically fighting us?”

The plane ride had been silent for most part of the way, with most of the avengers except Sam who was piloting the plane staring intently at Ward. Steve laid Skye on a bench, placing her head on his lap.

“He’s okay. He saved Natasha.” Barton shook his head. Steve felt skeptical.

“Hydra… Whitehall brainwashed me. When he died and without the regular brainwashing he used to do, it started to deprogram. I found that Skye’s presence helped to ease… to break down the parts of the programming that couldn’t be broken down. I sought her out and-“

“You mean you _kidnapped_ her,” Stark deadpanned.

“No! I didn’t! We were, she was in a warehouse nearby when I found her.”

“ _You_ found her?”

“Well. Raina… told me where I could find her. Told me in order to be fully free of Hydra, I had to find her.”

“Back up here. Who’s Raina?” Steve asked. Hydra brainwashed him? Was there no one who brainwashed or hurt by Hydra? Or was he spinning some grand tale? Coulson had told him how sly Ward was with his words.

“Raina is like Skye. Her gift is seeing the future.”

Oh. That explains how he had found Skye. Steve gazed at Skye, brushing her hair. There was a sense of lightness in his heart as he watched her sleep yet he had a feeling that it was not over.

“That was when Gordon attempted to kidnap Skye. We stopped him the first time.  The second time Gordon accidentally teleported all three of us to that town. Skye was trying to get us out, we had to steal parts to piece a phone together. Before we finished it, Kara was caught. They took her and tortured her after finding out that she was Shield.”

“If you didn’t kidnap Skye, all this wouldn’t have happened.” Steve was angry.

Ward only blanched. There was nothing he could say or do to make it better and Ward knew that.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Skye was furious. She stormed into the gym, punching the bag angrily barely noticing Steve.

“Hey.” He stilled the swinging bag. “You want to talk?”

She huffed, the anger dulling in her eyes. “Barton killed my mum.” What? Steve felt a surge of fury in him. A look clouded over her face. “They. My… I mean… Her people. My mum’s people… they didn’t think I was one of them. I had their genes, I had powers like them, but I wasn’t good enough anything.” She cupped her face with her hands, her body shaking.  Steve pulled her into hug, petting her hair. “She didn’t even want me! She just wanted me… to start a war with Shield, with the rest of the humans. She didn’t want me! No one wants me!”

He felt his heart break for her, feeling useless that he could do nothing to ease the pain. “Skye.” He lifted her face, wiping her tears away with his thumb. “Even if no one else in the world wants you, I will always want you.”

Wait what? Steve mentally smacked himself. Shit. Did he just confess, he didn’t mean to.

“I mean-“ he blushed. Not only did he just confess, it sounded so wrong. “I like you. A lot.”

Skye gaped at him. “What? I don’t understand. How could you like a thing like me?” She pushed away, her body still shaking. She was going to run, he had watched her for so long that he picked up all her subtle signals. She was going to run and he was going to lose his chance.

He stepped forward, holding her loosely so that she could run away if she really didn’t want this. Steve pulled his face close to hers slowly, waiting for her to pull away. She didn’t and he covered her mouth with his.

 

 

 


	14. Skye's POV - End of lifelong searching

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skye meets her biological family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I thought Ward x Kara was sweet.

Skye had a chaotic life. When she was young, she was carted from house to house, orphanage to orphanage, never staying for long. The longest she had been in a house was three months and she had almost hoped that Mrs Denver would adopt her. In the end she was always sent back.

She ran away when she was fifteen, hitchhiking across states, never staying for more than a few weeks. Then she met Miles and she blew him away with her self-taught hacking skills. She was recruited into the Rising Tide and became one of their star hackers. The Van had been a gift from Miles. It was a pathetic piece of crap if Skye was being brutally honest, but it was hers and with that, she continued travelling.

She always thought that if she found out more about herself, she would find her real family and finally stop travelling. Somewhere in her, she knew it was highly unlikely. The Shield happened and everything that went down brought her into a circle.

The man who hunted her, the man who killed people for her was her father, an unlucky pet of Hydra. At least that was what Ward had told her. He had been truthful to his best ability and to Skye’s best ability, it seemed the truth.

The unassuming man in the photo didn’t seem the sort who could have wrecked all the carnage she had seen in the photos in her file, but what did she know?

The plan was simple. Ward needed Skye to break the remaining Hydra programming, Kara had still blocks of it that she was unable to come to terms with and Cal, her dad, was to be picked up. A very simple plan.

Ward had restored Kara’s face but she was still missing something. Skye had gone through her files and searched for things to reconnect to her past life as Shield to no avail and they were on the way to two towns down to pick up Cal.

Of course, this is Skye. In Skye’s life, nothing ever went smoothly. Cal was not there. There was no sign of struggle. He was just gone. Ward said it was not likely that he would have upped and left, he had been far too excited to meet Skye in a less hostile environment. Kara then added that he wouldn’t have left all his surgical instruments behind. He liked being a doctor because it was all that reminded him of his past life.

Once again, Skye wondered if she was being led into a trap. This was Ward. It could some elaborate ruse to _kidnap_ her and trick her into helping them make the escape. She was bloody erasing any digital trails of themselves as they moved through towns. Well Ward didn’t say what his plans were only that they had to pick up Cal first. She was going to suggest going to the Avenger’s Tower after picking Cal up, but now he was missing.

“So what’s the plan?” Skye asked. The clinic was a mess, not the kind of mess you’d see in a fight, just the kind of mess that lacked a certain kind of order. Patient files were stacked in piles and stationary strewn all over. She supposed she must have gotten her messy habits from her father despite never knowing him. Was mess a gene? She put up a mental tack to ask Fitz when she had the chance to.

“We should find Cal…” Kara started. “We did promise him that we’d pick him up. Though… there’s no… clue to where he disappeared to.”

“Might be Gordon.” Ward replied glumly. “Skye’s mother is one of them after all.”

“Hold up. Who’s Gordon?” Skye asked.

“Gordon… Your mum is from an off brunch who call themselves Inhuman. He can teleport.”

Inhuman. Somehow the self-label she called herself awhile back ago had been correct. There was a certain amount of irony there. Sif and the Kree guy had called her differently after all.

“Teleport like Nightcrawler?”

They spun their heads to Skye in surprise. “How did you know that?”

Skye shrugged. “I like to read, I’m an insomniac and I may or may not have hacked into Xavier’s database.”

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

They were there for three days. THREE DAYS. Skye had always doubted that she had ADD or the need to keep moving about however now she was definitely sure she had either or.

She was bored out of her mind. Hell, she had suggested to go back to the Avenger’s Tower to search for Cal there with the more powerful computers. Then Ward said that if they wanted to get Cal, they had to wait here because _Gordon_ would return. She did then take the opportunity to train with Kara who was absurdly good at fighting as well even though she was far less of a challenge than Natasha.

Skye found that she liked Kara. For all her destructive tendencies as she was as ‘Agent 33’ in Hydra, this Kara was quiet, indecisive and rather sweet. There were times when either Ward or Kara went ‘crazy’ mode and she was forced to subdue them or talk them out of it. Luckily, over the period of travelling with them, Ward’s _crazy_ mode had begun to reduce drastically but Kara was still not improving much.

“Kara, put the gun down.” Skye said, trying to placate the angry woman in front of her. “Put the gun down. We are not going to hurt you.”

“You helped her! That _Morse_!” She waved the gun at Skye. Kara was a damn good shot if she wanted to be. Even in the crying mess she was, Skye was not going to doubt that Kara could put a bullet through her head if she wanted to. “I should have killed her! _Ward_ said I couldn’t!”

 They had been through this very same conversation several times. Crazy Kara demanding for Bobbi’s blood because she let Kara be caught and brainwashed by Hydra then when she popped out of it, she would be so guilty and upset on what she did to Bobbi. “Kara. Come on.”

Her hand drooped and Ward rushed forward to snatch it.

“I’m so sorry.” Kara mumbled, rubbing her face tiredly.

Skye hugged her tightly. “It’s okay.”

“I’m so sorry.”

“It’s all good. We understand.”

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Skye was sitting on a ledge, staring out into the small town when Ward sat down beside her, handing her a beer bottle. Her favourite brand.

“It’s still your favourite brand right?” He asked nervously when she stared at it for a period of time.

“I’m just surprised you remembered.”

He shrugged. “I do still love you and I did spend a long time with you…” he trailed off, guilt lining his face. “Skye… I’m really sorry for what… I did to you.” He laced her fingers with his. “But, but if you will give me the chance.”

She pulled her hand onto her lap, trying to ignore his crestfallen face. “Ward. You don’t realize it yet, but I’m not the one you want anymore.” She smiled gently at him. “I’ve seen you look at Kara.”

“Kara and I are just friends!”

“You don’t realize it yet.”

“I still love you.” He pulled her into his lap, pressing his lips onto hers. His lips urgently mapping hers before pulling away when she didn’t respond.

“It didn’t feel right, did it?”

Ward turned to stare at Kara sitting at in the room, reading a book. “No. No it didn’t.” Skye barely heard his reply. She didn’t need to. All she could think of was the blonde man back at the tower and his blue eyes gazing on her that night; his large, warm hands holding her close to him, holding not too tightly that she couldn’t flee but holding not too loosely that she couldn’t feel his warmth.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

It was the fifth day when Skye heard a strange sound that appeared behind her.

“Hello Skye. I am Gordon.” The tall eyeless man said to her.

“You’re the guy who took Cal, right?”

“Yes I did and I’ve come to bring you to your people.”

“ _My_ people?”

Gordon stepped forward and before he could do anything, Ward shot him. Gordon disappeared and reappeared just behind Skye, Kara was ready for him. She spun a high kick at him but he disappeared before she could land the kick again.

“There’s no need for violence.”

“You’re not wanted here.” Skye replied before sending out a pulse of vibrations at him.

The eyeless man didn’t wait too long. He must have wanted her really bad. It was two days later when he appeared again. This time he didn’t talk and attempted to teleport Skye. But Kara and Ward jumped in before he could disappear and they too came through.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

It had been another tiring five days for Skye before she finally assembled the bloody phone. She was glad that Tony had made her participate his building craze of circuit boards and electronic parts. She was tremendously glad that Tony and Fitz taught her how to build her own communication device when she casually asked once.

So here she was, hiding in some abandoned building in the fucking town, holding a screwdriver that Kara stole from another of _her people_ ,tearing apart the parts that Ward and her had disassembled from the myriad of _technology_ around town. Who the hell still owns a bloody video tape recorder and a floppy disk drive!? These people apparently.

They took Kara on the second day. Ward was a wreck. Skye didn’t even know the words to comfort him. He had finally realized he was in love with Kara and then kissed her. They didn’t give up of course. They searched the buildings and in the basement of a small _abandoned_ building, they found her. _Skye_ had never seen torture before but what they did to her was gruesome.

Ward was a wreck up to that point. It was almost eerie at the 360 degree change in him. He was no longer Grant Ward, the man broken by his family or the man who was able to break away from Hydra’s brainwashing. He was Grant Ward, the man Skye recognized as once her SO. Cold, cutting but not crazy. It was like he was holding make a tide of emotions to carry them out of there.

There was no saving Kara.

Ward looked at her, his emotions retreating from his face, detached and hollow. “I’ll get you out of here alive.”

He didn’t need to explain further and he didn’t offer any plans. Skye caught the implication. He didn’t care about how he got them out, he didn’t care if he was alive, he didn’t care how many people he killed, he had only one mission left and that was to get Skye out alive with or without him.

They scoured the buildings and hid from the others, taking watches. At first Skye were amused by how these people were so proud of their powers were unable to find them, then they realized that Lincoln, a friend of Raina had been deflecting much of the patrols.

Skye didn’t care if they were _her people_. Hell, she didn’t even think of them as the same as her. They abused their powers, they took Kara and tortured her to death, they took her father on the grounds because he was a public menace and needed to be put down and they probably took her mother.

First they had to get reinforcement and a backup plan before searching for Cal. Skye was under no illusion that Cal would be safe and well. He might be dying in a corner somewhere in the town but even if they managed to rescue him, he would need medical assistance and a retreat option, something that they didn’t have.

“There’s no electricity.” Skye hissed to Ward and Lincoln.

“I can’t. I might short-circuit it.” Lincoln replied when they turned to him. “We can go to Raina’s building. There should be enough.”

Three months ago, if anyone told her that Skye would be seeking Raina out for help, she would have asked them if they were smoking something. Ever since Raina’s push for Ward to be truthful of his feelings about Kara and then Kara’s death, they had come to a strange uneasy alliance.

An alliance that is, not friendship. Skye would _never_ call Raina a friend.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

“Pick up the damn phone!” Skye glanced at Ward who was watching the perimeter. It was their last possible try, trying and further would risk exposure. She didn’t want to consider what Ward’s next exit plan was. They had seen the ‘map’ which involved Skye tapping into her vibration powers and searching the land for another town. The nearest town was over 10,000 miles away. That was excluding the mountains.

Finally the line was picked up. “Thank god you answered.” She muttered before Clint could get a word in. They didn’t have time for ranting and lectures.

“Skye?” Skye felt her body go cold then hot at Steve’s voice. What was Steve doing with Clint’s phone? Oh this was bad.

She didn’t have time for his twenty questions so she rapidly and as quietly as she could to give them as much information as possible. “I don’t have time. I’m somewhere mountainous. I think China. This place has no name, no roads, they have modern amenities and towny stuff but none out. I don’t even know how to get here. Plane maybe. They have my dad here. I think they killed Kara. There’s something going on-“

Ward gave her look that screamed ‘ _think!?_ ’, if Skye was going to be brutally honest, she did really hope to rescue Kara so Brucey could work his magic. He didn’t get the chance to snark and pulled her into the bushes. “They’re here-“

It was many hours later of lying still in the dirt when Skye wondered if she had given them enough information. They did try to assemble as much information as they could.

Eventually they found her dad and was forced to have a heart-to-heart talk with him, courtesy of Ward.

“We’re stuck here anyway until the patrols change and that won’t be for another hour. So talk to him.”

Damn Ward. Cal was so docilely sitting there that Skye almost couldn’t recognize him. He wasn’t crazy, nor did he have the mad gleam in his eye. He was just a sad man who lost everything when Hydra came.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

The woman who was standing in front of her WAS HER MUM. That seemed highly unlikely. Her mum was dead, buried somewhere in a village in China. But Cal was standing beside her looking the happiest that she had ever seen him.

“Don’t you want to be with your family? With me and your dad, with your elder brother.” Her mum brushed some of her unruly curls from her face. Skye could see the resemblance in her. The same almond eyes, the same kind of nose. “You’ll never need to be afraid of people finding out about your powers here.”

The family she had searched for so long. Her elder brother looked remarkably like Cal, minus his almond eyes.

“Hello Daisy, I’m your elder brother by five years.” he smiled. “It took a while to persuade Gordon to bring you home.”

Her mind reminded her of sitting in the media rooms, sharing popcorn with Natasha and Steve. Watching Clint burn his bacon because apparently he likes burnt bacon yet he always stole her perfectly fried bacon. Bunking in with Natasha and Darcy to eat ice cream and complain about Jane’s nightly _activities._ Watching Pepper scold Tony for playing nerf wars in the offices.

Bruce the dad, Pepper the mum, Natasha the cool older sister, Clint the responsible elder brother, Tony the irresponsible, childish younger brother, Bucky and Sam the cool uncles and Steve..  she liked Steve.

Then Skye sat down for the first dinner with her real biological family. She had searched for the truth for so long that it felt weird finally finding the end of it.

She was… home?

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Natasha had come for them. Natasha was far better than Skye could ever imagine. Even almost taking Gordon down. While Natasha was occupied evading Gordon, her mum moved forward, placing a mere hand on Natasha and she collapsed.

What was her mother’s powers? Skye had assumed that it was regeneration. Whitehall had cut her open and left her in parts but she was still alive. It was probably regeneration except she had laid a mere hand on Natasha and knocked her out. How?

She tried to stop her mother from touching Natasha but her brother stopped her. She wasn’t sure why she followed her brother’s orders but she did. Natasha was here. The rest of the Calvary shouldn’t be too far back. Skye crouched with Natasha and Ward. She was going to make sure that Natasha and Ward were able to go back. Her mum touched her arm with a concerned look and suddenly she felt so sleepy.

It was many hours later when Skye woke up to a familiar voice calling her. Skye looked up and saw Clint beside her. Satisfied that she was alright, he turned, giving a quick check on Natasha. He pursed his lips at Ward, wanting to say more about him but there was no time. “Come on.” Clint slung Natasha across his shoulder, checking the door outside for guards.

What was she doing?

Skye stared at the trio uneasily. Was she going to leave her family behind?

“We’re not going to let you leave with them so easily.” Her mum told Skye. Behind her mother, her brother’s eyes shone oddly, the strange gleam in his eyes.

“Sebastian?” Skye took an involuntary step back. Ward moved to step in-between him and her brother.  

“Perfect timing.” Her mother said as the Hulk roared outside. Why did Banner unleash the Hulk? “Come now, you should stay with your people. Leave these pathetic humans alone.” She smiled widely at Skye.

Skye glanced at Clint. She couldn’t just abandon them – either parties. She loved both of them but this… this was her biological family. The family she always wanted.

“All they know is to cause pain and death. Stay with us and you’ll never feel alone again.”

Before she could speak further, two arrows struck her in the heart.

Clint killed her mother. Clint Barton had killed her mum. Skye stared at bod. The bright blood pooling around her mum. So many things to say but no air to breathe, she felt Ward pull her. She couldn’t even find the breath to make a single sound, let alone to speak.

 “Go go go!” Clint dashed outside.

Clint Barton killed her mother, the mother she always wanted to know.  Skye took a shuddering breath, feeling her heart thump loudly in her ears, letting Ward pull her along or was she pulling Ward along? She wasn’t sure. It felt like everything was muted, floating.

“These things don’t seem to ever stay down.” She heard Barton grumble.

He called Alisha a thing. Was he going to call her a thing as well when he found out that she was the same as them?

“Am I a thing as well?” She asked. She saw Barton throw her a questioning look. Her words were sharp and precise, scorn dripping from every word.

“She multiples! It’s not like any of these bullets hurt her, Skye.” Barton replied.

Skye gritted her teeth in anger. “But she’s not a thing.”

Just because they’re not… human he can’t call ~~them~~ us things!

“No… Skye.” Barton said in an exasperated tone. “Are you still thinking about that?”

Did he even know who he just killed? She glared at Barton, struggling to keep her powers in control, forcing her emotions downwards.

“Skye please. Whatever that happened, we can talk about it later.” Steve said, pulling her towards him.

There was no later. She wasn’t going to leave with them, leave with the people who called _her_ people things. They weren’t things. She wasn’t a thing.

“Dad. Calm down.” Skye said to her father. She would get them to leave. No more casualties had to come out of this. Steve was here, she could talk sense to him. Get everyone to calm the fuck down before she killed Barton.

Stark hesitated and a blue shot flew towards him, kicking him out of the sky. His suit sparked.

“Lincoln! Don’t!” Skye called out just as her father relaxed. Skye pulled her hand out of Steve’s grasp. She couldn’t delay anymore. They had to go now. “Leave,” she told Steve curtly.

Then everything went black.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Skye was furious when she woke up in the med bay. Barton and Natasha was sitting by her bed. The nerve. She launched at him, throttling him.

“you killed my mum!” She screamed, fighting against Natasha who was pulling her away from Barton. “Bastard!”

“Shit I didn’t know she was your mum. Skye,” He rubbed his neck. “Please you know she had powers.”

“Well so do I. Are you going to kill me too? Kill every one of us who have powers?”

“No! You’re my baby sister. I’ll never-“ He shook his head vehemently. “There’s no us against the world. She wanted to you to call us, to start a war against _humans.”_

“Barton, let her hear your comms recording.” Natasha said gently.

Jarvis played it. Skye couldn’t believe it. Her mum called her a half-breed. Her mum never wanted her, she just wanted to wipe all the humans out after what Whitehall did to her. She staggered onto the bed, feeling the incredulity and fury overwhelm her so much that it brought frustrated tears to her eyes. Crying was for weaklings, Skye breathed in, clenching her jaw. She wasn’t going to cry, not in front of Barton.

Barton and Natasha wisely left her alone.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Sleep eluded Skye. All she saw when she closed her eyes was the body of that woman’s, the sound of her mum’s chilling laughter. The family she could have. The family she would never know now.

She stalked into the gym not even sure what time it was now. It was not like she cared anyway. She pounded into the bag, trying to beat the conversation out of her mind. Half of her wished that Barton hadn’t been able to prove her mum’s motives. How she wished for ignorance. The other half of her was still struggling to come to terms with it. Barton killed her biological mum. Had he known it? The conversation never explicitly spelt it out. It was not too far a leap. Was he lying? He looked genuinely guilty.

He was a master assassin. Lying would be second-nature to him.

“Hey.” The punching bag was stilled. Steve watched her with his blue eyes. “You want to talk?”

The one man she didn’t want to see. She could feel the parts of her breaking away, the wall that she was trying to build splintering under his intense look. “Barton killed my mum.” Why couldn’t she ever keep anything from him? Skye pulled another shaky breath. She was going to breakdown if she didn’t get her emotions in control.

“They. My… I mean… Her people. My mum’s people… they didn’t think I was one of them. I had their genes, I had powers like them, but I wasn’t good enough anything.”

Half-breed. Pathetic.

The words of the woman she called mum resounded in her head. Skye could hear the sneer and disgust in her voice.

The way the children in school viewed her. Never good enough. She cupped her face, trying but failing to suppress the burning feeling in her eyes. Steve pulled her into a hug, murmuring indistinct words, running his hand through her hair.

“She didn’t even want me! She just wanted me… to start a war with Shield, with the rest of the humans. She didn’t want me! No one wants me!”

No one ever wanted her. Skye tasted the salty water running down her face. One day the Avengers would turn her out. She wasn’t wanted.

“Skye.” Steve lifted her face, wiping her tears away with his thumb. There was a mélange of emotions in those blue eyes that she couldn’t completely decipher. Affectionately. “Even if no one else in the world wants you, I will always want you.”

“I mean-“ he blushed, ducking his head slightly. “I like you. A lot.”

Captain America liking her? That was the epitome of impossibility. “What? I don’t understand. How could you like a thing like me?” Was he taking pity on her? Skye pushed him away. That seemed like the Captain America thing to do. Rescue an animal, save damsels in distress, go out on a pity date.

She didn’t have the patience to deal with this. She didn’t want pity.

Steve, Captain Rogers wasn’t going to let her leave. He made certain by stepping forward, catching her, pulling her close to him. Skye felt his warm hands acutely on her hips, loosely holding. Slowly pulling his face close to hers, his blue eyes glancing down at her lips. Lips covering hers, chapped and rough but soft. The world around her drowned out around her, the clamouring noise in her head faded to a blissful silence; as he wrapped his arms her waist, there was the surging tide of heat through her. Safe and warm in his arms. She felt herself kiss back, a giddiness spinning around her as their slow and deliberate kiss build into desperation and passion.

She didn’t just liked Steve, she was in love with him.


	15. We accept the love we think we deserve

**Steve’s POV**

All Steve felt was her soft lips and how she smelt so good like powder and vanilla. She made a noise as he unconsciously shifted his hand under her shirt, seeking her heat and he pulled away aghast with what he had done.

“I’m sorry.” He took several steps back, unable to look at her. “I didn’t-“ He hurried to the door and in the sanctuary of his own room, he sank down against the door. He wanted her so bad and knew if he hadn’t come to his senses earlier, he might have done ungentlemanly things to her.  She deserved to be treated like a dame, courted, flowers. He stared at his hands, remembering the warmth of her skin under his hands. Clenching his hands, he banged his head against the door with a loud sigh.

“You’re an idiot.”

Steve whirled to the voice. So lost in his thoughts, that he hadn’t noticed the intruder. Barton stared at him and eyebrowed at the open ventilation grate. Right. The ventilation shafts.

“You don’t kiss and run. Get back in there and explain.” The archer pulled him up by his collar and pointed at the door. “She lost her biological family today. The family she always wanted, the family that she would never have and the family that never wanted her. She’s hurting and I… nor Natasha can help her. It’s stupid but all she has is you now. I know you’re not a dick. You probably have some complicated thought processes but she doesn’t need it. She just wants to be accepted, she likes you too.”

“How do you know that she-“

“Really?” Barton stared at him incredulously and rolled his eyes. “Everyone in the tower knows you like her and she likes you. Now go!” He pulled the door open and hauled him out of the room.

“Tell her clearly!” Steve heard him holler as he hurried back to the gym.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

**Skye’s POV**

“I’m sorry.” Steve muttered, breaking away from the kiss with a look. “I didn’t-“ Was it disgust? Skye couldn’t decipher. If it was disgust, she didn’t want to know either. She watched the blond man hurry out of the gym, feeling her heart die a little more inside. In the end, even though he said he liked her, he too didn’t want her.

Skye took a deep breath and returned to the punching bag, her mind warring with her heart. Captain Rogers, Steve, was a 1940s man. In the 1940s, they didn’t kiss or touch each other so easily. Their relationships were far more chaste and far slower than it was now.

The look on his face wasn’t disgust or fear or any that Skye was familiar directed at her. The look on his face was guilt. Why? She touched her lips, her mind recalling his firm lips on hers. Because he kissed her? Was it possible?

Skye didn’t, couldn’t dare to believe it. To hope and then to find out it was not really that was too much to bear.

“Are you not going to ask him?” Ward asked. There was an indiscernible emotion on his face. He leaned against the wall. With a loud sigh, he continued seeing that Skye was not going to do anything or answer his question. “We accept the love we think we deserve but there are so many times we deserve so much more than we think we should accept.”

He gripped her shoulders. The man she once loved, the man who put her through so much. “Never think you’re unworthy. You’re the person that I-“ he faltered slightly, then ploughed on stoically. “that I loved. The woman with the big heart and a certain naïve, optimistic view of the world. Despite of how much I hurt you, you still were willing to help me. You deserve so much more than what you think you deserve.”

He pushed her towards the door just as Steve walked through.

“Skye-“ Steve hesitated, blue eyes flickering to Ward then settled on her. Unwavering, boring into her with a fierce look that seemed to reach all the way into her soul.

“Steve-“ Skye pursed her lips, uncertain what to say to him. Before she could decide what to say, he stalked towards them and pulled her into his arms.  

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

**Steve’s POV**

“Skye-“ Steve started. So many things he wanted to say, none sounding right.

“Steve-“ Skye looked at him, a mélange of emotions flirting through her face. Ward was there, holding her by her shoulders. Had he been wrong to come back? Had Barton been wrong?

This was Ward- the man who hurt her. He wasn’t going to let him hurt her again.

Never again.

Without realizing it, his body had moved forward to take her into his embrace, turning her away from the man who had hurt her so many countless times.

“I’m going to be honest here.” Steve decided on the first words that came into his mind. If he didn’t say it in one shot, he probably would never get the nerve again. Somehow taking a Hydra facility was less intimidating compared to telling Skye everything that was going through his mind. “I meant every word I said to you. Skye. I like you a lot but I’ve no idea how courting nowadays is like. In my time, you wouldn’t kiss so quickly or even touch…”

He swallowed shallowly, forcing himself to continue. “You deserve to be treated like a lady. I'm not going rush you into things. But I’m not going to walk away from you so easily unless you told me now that you do not like me that way. I- won’t force you if you don’t. I promised I wouldn’t let anyone hurt you again and I failed, I really have nothing to-“

Skye pulled him forward, pressing her lips against his, cutting his rambling off.

“I like you too you silly man.” She breathlessly replied as they broke apart.

“So does this mean you’ll go on a date with me?”

Her eyes danced with merriment. Her face lighting up with her brilliant smile, a smile so bright that Steve was sure he was blinded for a spilt-second.

“Of course, you silly man.” She kissed him again, soft and affectionately. He could get used to this. Definitely could get used to this. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The End!
> 
> I'm ending it here, leaving it open to what happens. They get together, perhaps get married, get a grand wedding. But its no fairy tale, there's going to be ups and downs and if I wrote an ending like that, I'd be much displeased with myself. Maybe I'll continue with the Age of Ultron, maybe not. I'm rather undecided about it.
> 
> Let me what you think and if you're interested in another arc. Did you like the Ward in the end? Was the ending satisfying? Etc. 
> 
> Thanks for reading and hope you enjoyed this! :)


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